Iraq spring fighting

Protesters angered by the planned burning of a copy of the Quran stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad early Thursday, breaking into the compound and lighting a small fire.

Fighting between rival Iraqi forces raged for a second day on Aug. 30 with rocket fire echoing from Baghdad's Green Zone where 23 supporters of powerful Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr have been shot dead, medics said.

ISIL claimed responsibility early on July 20 for a suicide bombing that ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi capital ahead of Eid holiday celebrations, killing nearly 30 people, according to medical sources.

Two rockets late on March 25 struck Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions, but there were no casualties, the Iraqi military said.

"Two Katyusha rockets fell near Baghdad operation command. Details to follow," the military statement said.

Iraqi security forces fired teargas and live bullets in renewed clashes with protesters in Baghdad and other cities on Jan. 26, a Reuters witness and security sources said, following a push to clear a sit-in camp in the heart of the capital.

Hundreds of Iraqi mourners stormed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Dec. 31, following deadly U.S. airstrikes this week that killed 25 fighters from an Iran-backed Shiite militia in Iraq.

Shouting "Down, Down USA!" the crowd tried to push inside the embassy grounds, hurling water bottles and smashing security cameras outside.

Two rockets were fired into Baghdad's fortified Green Zone on Oct. 30, killing one Iraqi soldier and adding to the violence gripping the country amid unprecedented anti-government protests and a violent security crackdown.

Protesters began gathering in Baghdad's Sadr City district late on Oct. 7 after overnight clashes with security forces spread to the vast, poor swath of the Iraqi capital for the first time killing 15 people.

Three mortar shells were fired into Baghdad's green zone early Friday as a curfew was imposed in the southern Iraqi city of Basra after a fresh outbreak of violent protests over poor public services left one person dead and 35 injured.

Turkey's president late on May 25 congratulated Muqtada al-Sadr on the phone over his coalition's victory in Iraq's general elections.