Run on Virgins in Diyala - 1584 ordered up by locals
AT least 39 people were killed in fierce clashes today between suspected al-Qaeda fighters and Sunni Arab villagers in the Iraqi province of Diyala, north-east of Baghdad, police said.
Baquba police Colonel Khairallah Ibrahim said two Sunni villages were attacked by al-Qaeda militants.
"Fierce fighting broke out between the villagers and al-Qaeda fighters in which 17 villagers and 22 al-Qaeda militants have been killed," he said.
Col Ibrahim said three women were among the villagers killed.
"Most of those killed from the villages were members of the anti-Qaeda front formed recently in the area," said another police officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim al-Obeidi.
Lt-Col Obeidi said that the two villages, Annaih and Sfayed, were previously al-Qaeda strongholds before locals aligned with the US military.
Thousands of Sunni Arab men have formed "Awakening Councils", or anti-Qaeda fronts, with the help of the US military to fight the al-Qaeda in Iraq group.
In the past few months such councils have often faced attack from al-Qaeda, battling to get them to rejoin the insurgency.
The US and Iraqi forces are currently involved in massive assaults against al-Qaeda in Iraq operators in the flashpoint province of Diyala.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2007-12-17 |