With larger military presence and influence, U.S. pressures Iraqi government to empower tribal forces and local police.

Striking police officers take to the streets, decrying government pay cuts made in response to a crippling financial crisis.

A key gas pipeline has been repaired after a Jan. 29 explosion temporarily cut off natural gas flows necessary for generating about half of Kurdistan's electricity.

Reinforcements from outside Basra are working to tamp down tribal fighting, including near oil fields, but some militias have chafed at the influx of forces.

Thousands of government-backed militia fighters with heavy weapons are gathering for an assault on the Islamic State-held town of Bashir. Victory would give Kirkuk and its oil a larger buffer against attacks but risks increased disputed territory tension in the aftermath.

The suspected bombing of Kurdistan's only gas pipeline has choked off fuel to major power plants, cutting electricity generation capacity in half.

An early damage assessment, conducted after Iraq's largest refinery was liberated from IS militants in October 2015, gave some hope it could be rehabilitated. But now there's little left to save.