4 al-Qaeda gunmen detained in Diala

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Policemen arrested four al-Qaeda gunmen on Friday in southeast of Baaquba city, the chief of the Diala police department said. “Police forces arrested today an armed cell of four al-Qaeda gunmen while planning to blew up a Shiite mosque in Baladruz district, southeast of Baaquba,” Brigadier Abdul Hussein al-Shimri told IraqiNews.com. 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 (P) 1