Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani arrived in Najaf Thursday to try and end weeks of fighting between Shia militiamen and US and Iraqi forces.
Iraqi officials said the insurgents had planned to seize control of the holy city of Najaf and kill top Shia religious figures -- including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most revered Shia leader.
Images that capture what it was like living through 2021.
Standing amid the rubble left by the now defeated Islamic State terrorists in Iraq, Pope Francis on Sunday said that hope is 'more powerful than hatred and peace more powerful than war'.
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