Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: AFP
Byline: n/a
Date: 30 September 2006
BAQUBA - Iraqi military forces have defeated what they called an attempt to
create a breakaway Sunni Islamic religious territory in Iraq's eastern
Diyala province, an army spokesman said Saturday.
"We foiled an attempt to establish an emirate in Diyala," said Brigadier
General Shakr al-Kaabi of the Iraqi Army's Fifth Division on the second day
of a wide-ranging operation sweeping through the provincial seat of Baquba.
He added that according to their intelligence, this "emirate" -- a term
which can mean an independent state under a religious leader -- was to have
been announced at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
One of Iraq's most mixed Sunni-Shiite provinces, Diyala has in recent
months been the site of brutal attacks mostly aimed at driving out
civilians from rival sectarian groups.
"Inside the Al Aqsa mosque we found leaflets calling for the forcible
displacement of Shiites and promoting sectarian strife," Kaabi said, adding
that they also found explosives tucked inside a coffin hidden in the
mosque.
By the second day of the operation, 130 people had been arrested, including
85 who were on wanted lists.
Diyala has long been a haven for extremist Sunni groups, and on June 7
Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by a US air strike
just north of Baquba.
The soldiers also arrested five members of a kidnapping cell and freed one
of their victims, Kaabi said.
According to Iraq's interior ministry, hundreds of Shiite families have
been expelled from neighborhoods in Baquba over the past few months in a
dirty war of threats and intimidation.
In some cases, those refusing to leave have had bombs planted in front of
their homes.
"I ask the citizens who have left their houses to come back to the area,"
said Kaabi. "They will be secure and should not be scared."
Byline: n/a
Date: 30 September 2006
BAQUBA - Iraqi military forces have defeated what they called an attempt to
create a breakaway Sunni Islamic religious territory in Iraq's eastern
Diyala province, an army spokesman said Saturday.
"We foiled an attempt to establish an emirate in Diyala," said Brigadier
General Shakr al-Kaabi of the Iraqi Army's Fifth Division on the second day
of a wide-ranging operation sweeping through the provincial seat of Baquba.
He added that according to their intelligence, this "emirate" -- a term
which can mean an independent state under a religious leader -- was to have
been announced at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
One of Iraq's most mixed Sunni-Shiite provinces, Diyala has in recent
months been the site of brutal attacks mostly aimed at driving out
civilians from rival sectarian groups.
"Inside the Al Aqsa mosque we found leaflets calling for the forcible
displacement of Shiites and promoting sectarian strife," Kaabi said, adding
that they also found explosives tucked inside a coffin hidden in the
mosque.
By the second day of the operation, 130 people had been arrested, including
85 who were on wanted lists.
Diyala has long been a haven for extremist Sunni groups, and on June 7
Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by a US air strike
just north of Baquba.
The soldiers also arrested five members of a kidnapping cell and freed one
of their victims, Kaabi said.
According to Iraq's interior ministry, hundreds of Shiite families have
been expelled from neighborhoods in Baquba over the past few months in a
dirty war of threats and intimidation.
In some cases, those refusing to leave have had bombs planted in front of
their homes.
"I ask the citizens who have left their houses to come back to the area,"
said Kaabi. "They will be secure and should not be scared."