![Soldiers man a tank in preparation for battle in 1980 during the Iran-Iraq War [Francoise de Mulder/Roger Viollet via Getty Images]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/f1a622ff14304f1095cb59846e7174a7_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Bitter eight-year battle not only inflicted human and economic devastation, but has impacted Middle East to this day.
Iraq
![An Iranian soldier rests while holding his G3 assault rifle on the Iran-Iraq front near Qasr-e Shirin on October 13, 1980 [Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/7ef68668069c43ea869012e80014e4f4_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Country and citizens pay tribute to memories of war and those who laid down their lives in the bloody 1980-88 conflict.
![A demonstrator holds a sign reading 'Freedom for the truth' during anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq, July 12, 2020 [Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/9e8336d374224a2b88f1782a937ba172_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Protest movements on edge following recent targeted attacks on civil society voices.
![US Army paratroopers walk as they prepare equipment and load aircraft bound for the US Central Command area of operations from Fort Bragg, North Carolina [Spc. Hubert Delany III/US Army via AP]
[Daylife]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cbbfe5bba20f4931baa2620914c4efb3_18.jpeg?resize=570%2C380)
Nearly 20 years of war has led to the deaths and injury of an estimated 300,000 Iraqi and Afghan people.
![United States President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops comes as he faces blowback from a report that he allegedly made disparaging remarks about American war dead [Ali Haider/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/b18de92711d243f5b5d2decb758c3431_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
American military presence in Iraq will be reduced from 5,200 to 3,000 troops this month, US Central Command announces.
![Apartments are popping up despite regulations only allowing single-family dwellings, while erasing part of Baghdad's architectural heritage [Haider Hamdani/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/e43250c51a384d19b3121e8920555cb3_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Concrete skeletons now punctuate a skyline previously peppered with palm trees as flats gradually usurp old homes.
Thousands of US troops returned to Iraq in 2014 to help support the government in its fight against ISIL.
Medical school graduates and health workers have protested in Iraq’s capital over a shortage of equipment to tackle pandemic – and also a lack of jobs.
![Dr Omar al-Shimmari says a partial strike by medical professionals on Sunday will not affect emergency wards and intensive care units [Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/5f2d952187aa4430ba8fc094e0ec6813_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
About 20,000 doctors have fled Iraq in recent years over threats and targeted killings, severely hampering healthcare.
![The health ministry attributed the spike to recent 'large gatherings' [Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/b1983cf00e704508a4a562c4529ccce4_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Authorities warn hospitals may ‘lose control’ amid record rise in single-day COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
![Salih told Macron the Iraqi leadership is looking forward to a future where Baghdad will claim an 'essential and a central role in the region'. [The Presidency of the Republic of Iraq Office/Handout via Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/c1e2922667ad45c5841132f94187e27e_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
In first foreign visit since PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi formed gov’t in May, French president pledges support for Iraq.
Who are the Kurds, what sets them apart and what unites them?
![Baghdad resident Falah Hassan Mohammed serves mourners with tea and cookies on a sidewalk in the neighbourhood of Utaifiyah [Sinan S Mahmoud/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/9f89db7da7a94750a9abb5db2ce29484_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Many Shia Muslims ignored calls by Iraq’s government and moderate religious leaders to stay home during Ashoura events.
![Iraqi activist Reham Yacoub was killed by unidentified gunmen on August 19, 2020 in Basra, Iraq [Reuters/Alaa al-Marjani]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/6f41ae4bc1654f56bf4f32961819e0f1_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The recent violence aims to derail the Iraqi protest movement ahead of the 2021 elections, analysts and activists say.