IED kills, injures 5 Sahwa fighters in Diala

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: A Sahwa fighter was killed and four others were wounded in a bomb explosion in north of Baaquba city on Friday, a security source said. “An improvised explosive device went off in the main street in al-Azeem region in Khalis district, north of Baaquba, targeting Sahwa fighters’ vehicle, killing one and injuring four,” the source told IraqiNews.com. “One of the wounded men remains in critical condition,” he added, without giving more details. The Sahwa councils were set up in a number of Iraqi provinces such as al-Anbar, Diala, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din with the aim of bolstering political and local tribal powers to fight armed groups, particularly al-Qaeda network, in those areas. These councils are usually led by tribal chiefs or notables in the provinces. Diala province, a mix of Sunnis and Shiites, extends to the northeast of Baghdad as far as the Iranian border. Its capital is Baaquba, 57 km northeast of Baghdad . It covers an area of 17,685 square kilometers (6,828 sq mi). A large portion of the province is drained by the Diala River , a major tributary of the Tigris . Because of its proximity to two major sources of water, Diala’s main industry is agriculture, primarily dates grown in large Date Palm groves. It is also recognized as the orange capital of the Middle East . In January 2008 Operation Phantom Phoenix was launched in an attempt to eradicate the remnants of al-Qaeda network following the Diala province campaign between 2006 and 2007. SH (S) 1