21 wanted men detained in Diala

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: The commander of the ground forces said on Thursday that the Iraqi forces arrested 21 wanted men and found four house bombs during a security operation in Diala. “Iraqi forces managed to wage military operations in separate areas of Diala in the past 24 hours, where they arrested 21 wanted men and found 4 house bombs as well as seizing amounts of weapons and ammunitions,” Lieutenant General Ali Ghedan 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 (S) 1