$36,000 stolen in armed robbery in Diala

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: An armed group attacked a fuel station in Baaquba city on Friday and stole $36,000, according to a security source. “More than 15 gunmen attacked a fuel station in al-Bawba region in Baaquba, where they stole $36,000,” the source told IraqiNews.com. “The gunmen confined the stuff, stole the money and fled to unknown place,” he also said. Iraqi forces have been conducting a large-scale security operation codenamed Bashaer al-Kheir (Promise of Good) in Diala. 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