Sahwa official, son killed in blast in Diala

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: An official in the sahwa (awakening) tribal forces and his son were killed in an improvised explosive device attack on his vehicle south of the city of Baaquba on Sunday, a security source in Diala said. “An IED went off today (Aug. 23) on the main street in the area of Abu Khamis, Buhrez district, (5 km) south of Baaquba, near a civilian vehicle boarded by Sattar Djabla, the official in charge of the sahwa forces in Abu Khamis, and his son Aziz,” the source told Iraqi News. “The blast left Djabla and his son killed and their vehicle totally destroyed,” the source added. Areas south of Buhrez district , which encompasses Abu Khamis, are still massively controlled by Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) network and the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq group. The State’s leader, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, had been arrested a few months ago in an operation conducted by the Iraqi forces in Baghdad based on intelligence tip-offs. Baaquba, the capital city of the volatile province of Diala , lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad . AmR (P)/S 1