In photos: The timeline and legacy of the Iraq battle, 20 years on

Issued on: 19/03/2023 – 19:13

A US soldier holds his sniper place on a rooftop in a Shiite enclave of Sadr Metropolis in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, April 21, 2007. Joint U.S. and Iraqi forces performed searches for weapons and explosives within the neighborhood. ASSOCIATED PRESS – ADIL AL-KHAZALI

On March 20 2003, a world coalition led by the US, together with troops from Australia, Poland and the UK, invaded Iraq. US President George W. Bush introduced the target was to “to disarm Iraq, to free its folks and to defend the world from grave hazard.” The battle toppled the dictator Saddam Hussein however it additionally unleashed chaos all through the nation.An estimated 300,000 Iraqis have been killed between 2003 and 2023, based on the Watson Institute for Worldwide and Public Affairs at Brown College, as have been greater than 8,000 US army, contractors and civilians. The interval was marred by unemployment, dislocation, terrorism, and years with out dependable electrical energy or different public providers. From years of sectarian combating and day by day carnage to the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, FRANCE 24 seems to be again on the battle that modified the future of Iraq.