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An Iraqi terrorist, who had a reputation for being a bomb expert, died on Monday when a bomb that he was constructing blew up. Abu Moaaz, a bomb maker for ISIS, was manufacturing explosives in central Iraq, about 15 miles north of Baqubah when the explosion took place, The Daily Mail reported. He had recently supplied ISIS numerous explosive devices that were used to kill many people, including law enforcement.

BAQUBAH, Iraq – Newly registered “Sons of Iraq” led Coalition Forces to an al-Qaeda in Iraq safe house, Feb. 8. This tip resulted in the death of six enemy insurgents east of al-Mansuriyah, Iraq. Soldiers from Troop F, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment were registering new Sons of Iraq when the local sheik informed the Soldiers where an AQI cell was hiding. The AQI fired on the Soldiers with small arms and rocket propelled grenades. The Soldiers returned fire, immediately killing one armed combatant. An air weapons team completed the engagement -- killing five more armed insurgents. One insurgent was...

BAQUBAH — A busy roadway was re-opened by the Iraqi government during a ceremony in the Shifta district of Baqubah, Iraq, Jan. 28. Kharesan Street, a main roadway linking northern and southern Baqubah, was re-opened for use by civilian vehicles. The roadway was closed due to numerous attacks against civilians, Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces in the area, including improvised explosive devices and small-arms fire. Once the area was cleared in a joint effort between the ISF and CF, the road was reopened. “We celebrate this day by opening this road,” said Diyala Iraqi Police Chief Gen. Ghanem Al-Kurashi...

Statement from Multi-National Force – Iraq: Coalition forces engaged terrorists near Baqubah BAGHDAD, Iraq – Media have been reporting that the 25 individuals killed in an operation early Friday morning at a location near Baqubah were innocent civilians. This is not true. During an operation to locate a Special Groups leader believed to be associated with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps – Quds Force, ground forces came under heavy fire from a large number of individuals. Air support was requested to suppress the threat, resulting in 25 terrorists killed. In this instance, we have confirmed that the 25...

BAQUBAH — The 1st Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division conducted Operation “K,” Sept. 2, with Iraqi police and concerned local nationals (CLN) southeast of Baqubah, near the village of Skook, against a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold, detaining 11 men and seizing a weapons cache, without a single casualty. The assault was carried out by over 150 Iraqi Soldiers and fifteen Iraqi Army combat vehicles. Iraqi police secured roads leading into and out of the area near Skook shortly before the start of the operation, according to U.S. Army Lt. Col. Brian J. Cummins of the 1st Brigade Military Transition...

Hello Everybody! It's been another successful couple of weeks in my area of operations. My Soldiers continue to impress me on a daily basis, making me proud as they work hand-in-hand with our Iraqi Army and Police counterparts, and secure the population in and around Baqubah. Much of our progress in the past two weeks has been focused on the non-lethal fight. As you know, our fight does not just include bringing terrorists to justice, but includes assisting the provincial and local governments form a functioning government that upholds the rule of law and provides assistance to its citizens. When...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2007 – Operations in Baqubah, Iraq, are transitioning to the “hold” phase of the “secure, hold, build” strategy, the commander of coalition forces in northern Iraq said today. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Multinational Division North, told military analysts that coalition and Iraqi forces are building joint security stations and combat outposts in the city. “We have a number of large operations planed over the next 30 days to address the threat in the city,” he said. Elsewhere in his area of operations, Mixon has recommended that Ninewah province -- the capital of which is...

At first, he said, they would only target Shia, but over time the new al Qaeda directed attacks against Sunni, and then anyone who thought differently. The official reported that on a couple of occasions in Baqubah, al Qaeda invited to lunch families they wanted to convert to their way of thinking. In each instance, the family had a boy, he said, who was about 11-years-old. As LT David Wallach interpreted the man’s words, I saw Wallach go blank and silent. He stopped interpreting for a moment. I asked Wallach, “What did he say?” Wallach said that at these luncheons,...

Troops begin patrolling the streets of the city that had been overrun by Al Qaeda-linked insurgents. They find not everyone there is bad. BAQUBAH -- Lt. Qusai had his doubts when he took his men into an insurgent haven in the western part of this city for the first time this week. "Honestly, I thought this operation would never be successful because I had information that Al Qaeda had big guns and RPGs," said the Iraqi army commander who provided only one name. "We thought that all the people here are terrorists and everyone is bad, even the women and...

Battle for Baqubah First a quick media round-up. (This is not all-inclusive.) Alexandra Zavis from Los Angeles Times is down in the heat of the battle bringing home information. Michael Gordon from New York Times is still slugging it out, and his portions are accurate in the co-authored story, “Heavy Fighting as US Troops Squeeze Insurgents in Iraqi City.” (Long title.)

The first day of operation Arrowhead Ripper was intense. The Army is giving full access to the battlefield, and while on base full access to the TOC (HQ) which means I see the raw truth on the ground, and as it feeds through the TOC. They are hiding nothing. Or if they are, it’s in plain view. (Special operations notwithstanding.) A reporter can see as much as he or she can stand. Civilian casualties are occurring, despite much discretion being used on the firing. I saw three MLRS rockets hit targets downtown today (June 20) and more were fired. Watched...

BAQUBA, Iraq, June 20 — Fighting was heavy in parts of Baquba on Wednesday as American troops continued to squeeze a large section of the city in an effort to rid it of insurgents believed to be part of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Soldiers moved block by block through the city, the capital of Diyala Province, clearing houses and removing roadside bombs. As they pressed in, American troops discovered a medical aid station for insurgents — another sign that the Qaeda fighters had prepared for an intense fight. The hospital, uncovered by troops from the Fifth Battalion, 20th Infantry, was...

BAQOUBA, Iraq — American ground forces, backed by Apache helicopter gunships and fighter jets, launched a large-scale offensive Tuesday to clear al-Qaida and other insurgent groups from the capital of Iraq’s volatile Diyala province. The offensive began before dawn, with ground elements of 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment and 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment moving in a pincer movement on the western half of the city. Other elements, including the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Task Force (1-12th Combined Arms Battalion), moved to secure the other half of the city, east of the Diyala River. Operation Arrowhead Ripper, as the offensive...

BAQOUBA, Iraq — Soldiers with 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment continued their systematic attack on terrorist forces in Baqouba with another clearing operation in the city, April 10. In this latest effort, Soldiers of 5-20 Inf. Regt., 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., spent three days clearing the neighborhood of Buhriz, described by Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Bruce Antonia as “al-Qaida’s battleground.” When the Stryker battalion first arrived in Baqouba in March, it encountered resistance from the neighborhood’s insurgents in the form of roadside bombs, rocket propelled grenade fire and small arms fire.

BAQUBAH, IRAQ-U.S. military officials here have little trouble knowing when al Qaeda is exerting its influence in this city that was, once upon a time, the lush, orange-growing capital of the Mideast. Sometimes it's the subtle signs: Tomatoes and cucumbers start disappearing from the market, deemed too sexually suggestive, soldiers here say, by the Sunni fundamentalist terrorists. On other occasions, it's more overt: "Graffiti that says, 'Long live al Qaeda,' and stupid stuff like that," explains a U.S. military officer based here in what is now the capital of Diyala province. Mostly, though, the pressure has been bold and deadly:...

BAQUBAH, Iraq, Nov. 30, 2006 -- The city of Baqubah is fully operational despite media reports to the contrary, the senior coalition forces commander for Iraq’s Diyala province said here today. “The erroneous reports are clearly an effort by some individuals to paint a picture of disarray and hysteria to destabilize the province,” Army Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, said. The city’s government center is open and most of the ministries are present for work, as are the city workers, the health care providers, and ambulances, Sutherland said. "The mosques...

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....

The Iraqi Army’s 5th Division officially took charge of military operations in northern Iraq’s Diyala Province from Coalition Forces during a ceremony held here today. The division’s colors were unveiled and presented to its commander, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Klepos Awad Majhool al-Kozaee by British Maj. Gen. Peter Everson, who serves as deputy commanding general, Multi-National Corps-Iraq. The division earned its colors after being validated as a viable fighting force by the 101st Airborne Division. "I’d like to say that this division will be successful because it is composed of the full spectrum of Iraqi people," Ahmed said. "It represents the...

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....

Some 50 Iranians along with an Iranian security forces commander have been arrested by Iraq’s security forces in the central province of Diyala, an Iraqi television channel reported. The arrests were made during a raid jointly by American and Iraqi forces late Sunday in the town of Baquba, 65 kilometres north of the capital, the Salahuddin television station reported. Those arrested were believed to be behind a spate of kidnappings and murders in an effort to further strain ethnic tensions in Iraq. They were arrested in one of the town’s north-eastern districts. Last week, United States forces killed the Jordanian-born...