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A fresh outbreak of violence left at least seven people dead and 27 injured, including three children, in separate attacks in Iraq's restive province of Diyala, police said Tuesday. In Baquba, the capital of Diyala, twin attacks targeting members of tribal police, known as the Awakening Councils, left three of them dead and eight people injured. The Awakening Councils are US-backed Sunni tribal police units formed to fight al-Qaeda militants in Iraq. In the first incident, gunmen attacked a centre of the Awakening Council in al-Abara village, south of Baquba, killing a council member and injuring another, security sources told...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 1/2/08 - Baghdad, Amariyah Volunteers, Baquba, Basra, Bayji, Chagmalai, South Waziristan, Diwaniya, Hadid, Kut, USS Harry S. Truman, Babur, Ghazni, Kabul, Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Dijlah, Babur BREAKING: Baquba - Terrorists taken out - Cache and terrorists taken BREAKING: Basra, Iraq - Weapons cache seized. 5 Terrorists taken. BREAKING: Bayji - Terrorists taken out BREAKING: Chagmalai, South Waziristan - Involvement denied BREAKING: Diwaniya - 126 terrorists and weapons cache taken in three-week operation BREAKING: Hadid - Cache and 12 terrorists taken. Bodies of 17 civilians murdered by terrorists recovered. BREAKING: Kut -...

Soldiers from Company B and Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division negotiate their way through a wall during clearing operation Rock Reaper in Hadid, Iraq, just west of Baqubah. The Soldiers clearing the town had to negotiate their way though deep canals and over high walls to reach their objectives. Photo by Pfc. Kirby Rider, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. HADID -- A dim blue light pierced the darkness as someone yelled “one-minute out”, but the voice was drowned out by noise from the rotating blades...

When context is other people’s children As I write these words just a few miles from the graves I saw, the resulting controversy about whether what the man said was true, or whether his words should have been written if the writer couldn’t verify them, seems precious. There is no imaginary line of credulity that al Qaeda might cross should it go from beheading children to baking them. No unnamed Iraqi stringer claimed that al Qaeda had taken over Baqubah. Al Qaeda said this through the press. I sit writing these words in Diyala Province just a short drive from...

US troops fighting al-Qaeda militants in the Iraqi city of Baquba now control about 60% of the city's western side, their commander says. Brig Gen Mick Bednarek said a big challenge for his 10,000 soldiers was securing areas once they were clear. The situation inside the city, 60km (35 miles) north-east of Baghdad, could not be confirmed independently. Earlier, another US military official said al-Qaeda fighters were being "enveloped into a kill sack".

Thousands of US soldiers on the offensive north of Baghdad are up against fierce resistance from hundreds of Al Qaida militants ready to fight to the death. The US has launched one of its biggest operations since the invasion of Iraq targeting Baquba. US military releases video of its operations against Al Qaida militants in and around the Iraqi city of Baquba.

I helicoptered today into Baquba, the centerpiece of the current U.S. offensive in Iraq, with Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno —and then drove via Stryker brigade into the center of the fight for a briefing. It was midday, and the sun was so hot that both sides in the battle seemed to be taking a siesta. Only a few small explosions could be heard in the distance; there was no small arms fire. Odierno—a supertanker of a man with a shaved head who looks like ancient turtle—met with a group of battalion commanders in the ruins of a medical center that...

<p>Your thought, picture, analysis, and corrections are appreciated by all FReepers.</p> <p>Will these pictures be on the MSM tonight, positively showing the Surge?</p>

Excerpt - BAGHDAD, June 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said it had launched a huge offensive against al Qaeda north of Baghdad on Tuesday involving 10,000 soldiers, one of the single biggest operations since the end of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The military said in a statement that 22 militants had been killed in the early hours of the offensive, which is taking place around the city of Baquba in Diyala province, an al Qaeda in Iraq stronghold. Attack helicopters and ground forces launched the offensive to "eliminate" al Qaeda in Iraq militants operating in Baquba and...

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Around 10,000 US and Iraqi troops launched a major air and ground assault on Al-Qaeda networks in and around the restive city of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, on Tuesday, the US military said. "Task Force Lightning commenced Operation Arrowhead Ripper today in a large-scale effort to eliminate Al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorists operating in Baquba and its surrounding areas," the military said. "Approximately 10,000 soldiers, with a full complement of attack helicopters, close air support, Strykers and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, are taking part in Arrowhead Ripper, which is still in its opening stages."

BAQUBA, Iraq • Iraqi military forces have defeated what they called an attempt to create a breakaway Sunni religious territory in Iraq's eastern Diyala province, an army spokesman said yesterday. "We foiled an attempt to establish an emirate in Diyala," said Brigadier General Shakr Al Kaabi of the Iraqi Army's Fifth Division on the second day of a wide-ranging operation sweeping through the provincial seat of Baquba. He added that according to their intelligence, this "emirate" – a term which can mean an independent state under a religious leader – was to have been announced at the end of Ramadan....

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 7/22/06 - Beirut, Rmeileh, Nabatiyeh, Maarjyounat, Zrariyeh, Chebaa Farms, Haifa, Nahariya, Israel, Avivim, Shlomi, Zaura, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Baquba, Haditha, Kirkuk, Muqdadiyah, Sadr City, Basra, Iraq, Aurora, Colorado Israeli Response to Hamas and Hizb'allah terror using Iranian and Syrian technology BREAKING: Beirut - U.S. Navy sailors and Marines rescue American adults and children out of Lebanon BREAKING: Beirut - southern suburbs of Hizb'Allah pounded BREAKING: Rmeileh, Lebanon - destroyed bridge, attacked by Israeli warplane missiles BREAKING: Nabatiyeh - precision retaliation by Israeli warplanes BREAKING: Maarjyounat - precision retaliation against terror BREAKING: Zrariyeh -...

BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi and U.S. troops battled Shi'ite militiamen in a village northeast of Baghdad on Thursday, and witnesses and police said U.S. helicopters bombed orchards to flush out gunmen hiding in the palm groves. Iraqi security officials said Iranian fighters had been captured in the fighting, in which the commander of an Iraqi quick reaction force and two soldiers were shot dead by a sniper. They did not say how the Iranians had been identified. The U.S. military had no immediate comment. Police said the fighting was still going on at 6 p.m. (1400 GMT) in the...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military, in the spotlight over murder charges against its troops accused of killing Iraqis, said it had killed a "non-combatant" during a raid in which an al Qaeda militant was detained on Wednesday. A statement said U.S.-led forces killed the civilian near the violence-racked city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, as troops were securing the house of the alleged militant. "While securing the initial target, Coalition forces noticed an individual acting suspiciously at a nearby house. They assessed him as an imminent threat, engaged and killed him. He was later determined...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces detained a senior al-Qaida in Iraq network member and three suspected terrorists during coordinated raids southwest of Baqouba June 19. The terrorist is reportedly a senior al-Qaida cell leader throughout central Iraq , north of Baghdad . He's known to be involved in facilitating foreign terrorists throughout central Iraq , and is suspected of having ties to previous attacks on Coalition and Iraqi forces. Coalition forces secured multiple buildings and detained the known terrorist plus three suspected terrorists without incident. Troops found an AK-47 with several magazines of ammunition and destroyed them all on site....

BAQUBA, Iraq -- Iraqi security forces battled insurgents around Baquba on Friday despite a curfew as rebels launched massive attacks on checkpoints to seize control of the restive city. Baquba police chief Ghassan Bawi said that 25 rebels were killed since Thursday in clashes between Iraqi security forces and insurgents, adding "gunmen carried out attacks on checkpoints today also". Another 43 insurgents were arrested, the military said. Baquba, a mixed Sunni-Shia city 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, has seen a surge in violence since December's national election as rebels exploited a protracted deadlock over the formation of Iraq's...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 3/25/06 - Samarra, Op. Swarmer , Kerbala, Abu Ghraib, al-Dor, Baquba, USS Gonzalez, USS Cape St. George, Taji, Nowruz, Istanbul, Tashkent, Tehran BREAKING: Samarra, Op. Swarmer - 11 caches and 104 terrorists taken BREAKING: Kerbala - terrorist attack Abu Ghraib - Real story: cache taken al-Dor - US-Iraqi patrols root out terrorists Baquba - Cache taken USS Gonzalez, USS Cape St. George - Weapons confiscated from terrorist pirates Taji - Nowruz celebrations Istanbul, Turkey - Nowruz celebrations Uzbek capital Tashkent - Nowruz celebrations Tehran - Nowruz celebrations QFN ==== YE OLDE QUAGMIRE-FREE...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 3/19/06 -Baquba, Operation Swarmer, Samarra, Kabul, Qala Bost Fort, Shahi Kot, Lashkar Gah, Kundalan, Sheberghan BREAKING: Baquba, Operation Swarmer, American and Iraqi military forces take terrorists and weapons BREAKING: Samarra, Operation Swarmer, American and Iraqi military forces take terrorists and weapons BREAKING: Kabul, cockfight Qala Bost Fort, Afghanistan, Shahi Kot Lashkar Gah - Education for all, freed by American Kabul - Afghan women on International Women's Day Kundalan, Sheberghan QFN ==== YE OLDE QUAGMIRE-FREE NEWS Exclusive to FReerepublic PICTURES YOU WILL NEVER SEE IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ========= Samarra, Iraq ========= Somewhere...

<p>BREAKING: Hibhib village, Iraqi soldiers arrested 20 terrorists.</p> <p>BREAKING: Forward Operating Base Remagen, with Operation Swarmer, American heroes in helicopters.</p> <p>BREAKING: Basra- Market of military equipment, helping terrorist murders Al Anbar province, weapons found Baquba - Iraqi soldiers take terrorists Basra - Brave Brits in security operation Beiji - Operation 'Cordon and Knock' Najaf - Mehdi Army protects terrorist Moqtada Sadr Ramadi - Operation 'Band of Brothers', American and Iraqi heroes after bombings killed 64 people Tikrit - U.S. Army and Iraqi heroes on a 'knock and search' mission Victory base complex - Iraqis at their "hand over ceremony"</p>

BAQUBA, Iraq, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Gunmen opened fire on a crowd of teenage boys playing soccer in the Iraqi town of Baquba on Sunday, killing two youngsters and wounding five in what a police official said was a sectarian attack. "This destruction was an attempt to spread sectarian tensions," said the official, who asked not to be named. The official said three gunmen in a car drove up to the area where the boys were gathered and opened fire. They were playing soccer in a mixed Shi'ite and Sunni neighbourhood in Baquba, he said. The attack came after the...