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1
The United States begins the invasion of Iraq; coordinating a satellite-guided tomahawk cruise missile strike on Baghdad.American, British, Australian, Polish, and Danish military operations begin; ground troops move into Iraq -
2
2003 July - US-appointed Governing Council meets for first time. Commander of US forces says his troops face low-intensity guerrilla-style war. -
3
2003 August - Suicide truck bomb wrecks UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. -
4
2003 December - Saddam Hussein captured in Tikrit. -
5
2004 March - Suicide bombers attack Shia festival-goers in Karbala and Baghdad, killing 140 people. -
6
2004 April-May - Shia militias loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr take on coalition forces. -
7
2004 June - US hands sovereignty to interim government headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. -
8
2004 August - Fighting in Najaf between US forces and Shia militia of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr. -
9
2004 November - Major US-led offensive against insurgents in Falluja. -
10
2005 January - Some 8 million vote in elections for a Transitional National Assembly. -
11
2005 February - At least 114 people are killed by a car bomb in Hilla, south of Baghdad, in the worst single such incident since the US-led invasion. -
12
2005 April - Amid escalating violence, parliament selects Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president. Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shia, is named as prime minister. -
13
2005 May onwards - Surge in car bombings, bomb explosions and shootings: government puts civilian death toll for May at 672, up from 364 in April. -
15
2005 August - Draft constitution is endorsed by Shia and Kurdish negotiators, but not by Sunni representatives. -
14
2005 June - Massoud Barzani is sworn in as regional president of Iraqi Kurdistan.