Diala explosion kills, injures 9

DIALA, Sept. 21 (Iraqi News) – Nine civilians on Sunday were killed or wounded in an explosive charge attack that occurred near a civilian vehicle in the northeast of Baaquba city, a local police source said. “Today, three civilians were killed and six others were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near their vehicle in Murgana area, between Khanaqin’s districts of Jalawlaa and al-Saadiya (155 km northeast of Baaquba),” the source, who requested anonymity, told IraqiNews.com ­- Voices of Iraq – (Iraqi News). 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.   SS (S) 1