Bbc Iraq

In the past 40 years Iraq has endured three major wars, a violent coup, two invasions, a decade of bombing, two insurgencies, attack by the so-called Islamic State group and a sectarian civil war. Living through such relentless bloodshed has taken a heavy toll on the nation's mental health. More than one third of Iraqi children are thought to have moderate to severe mental illness and all social indicators, from divorce to suicide, show significant increases.

In the past 40 years Iraq has endured three major wars, a violent coup, two invasions, a decade of bombing, two insurgencies, attack by the so-called Islamic State group and a sectarian civil war. Living through such relentless bloodshed has taken a heavy toll on the nation's mental health. More than one third of Iraqi children are thought to have moderate to severe mental illness and all social indicators, from divorce to suicide, show significant increases.

In this undercover investigation, Nawal al-Maghafi exposes a secret world of sexual exploitation in Iraq. Some Shia clerics are using a controversial practice called 'pleasure marriage' to groom vulnerable girls and young women and pimp them out.

War photographer David Pratt takes a trip back to Iraq, the beautiful, traumatised land whose conflicts he has covered for over three decades.

For decades, Iraq has been caught between the competing regional interests of the US and Iran. In the ultimate settling of scores, in 2020, the US assassinated Iran's senior commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Iran, leading to rising military tensions. But perhaps the biggest impact of Soleimani's death was on Iraqi Shias, traditionally supportive of Iran. With the heroic figurehead gone, even those with close religious and cultural ties to Iran began to question the extent of Iran's influence in their country, particularly through powerful Iran-backed Shia militia groups.

The story of Noah building an ark to save his family and save thousands of animals from a flood which destroys all life on earth is an epic from many people's childhoods. It's a wonderful story, found in the Bible, the Koran and the Torah. But is it in fact, real history?

Fifteen years after the 2003 invasion ex soldier Adnan Sarwar returns to Iraq to discover the people and country behind the headlines.

Iraq's oil-rich southern province, Basra, is in the grip of a crystal meth epidemic. High levels of unemployment, poverty and despair are fuelling the crisis, along with plentiful, cheap supplies of the highly addictive drug. Yalda Hakim has gained exclusive access to Basra's police SWAT team, and the prison where dealers and addicts are all kept in the same cell. She reports on the authority's tough approach to drug-related crime.

Nawal Al-Maghafi exposes a secret world of sexual exploitation in Iraq. Some Shia clerics are using a controversial practice called 'pleasure marriage' to groom vulnerable girls and young women and pimp them out.

The extraordinary and dramatic story of Gertrude Bell, the most powerful woman in the British Empire in her day. She shaped the modern Middle East after World War I in ways that still reverberate today. More influential than her friend and colleague Lawrence of Arabia, Bell helped draw the borders of Iraq and established the Iraq Museum.