Diyala campaign

Diyala province campaign

Part of the Iraq War

Soldiers take cover behind a Stryker vehicle during a firefight

Date	25 December 2006 – 1 October 2007 (9 months and 6 days)
Location	Diyala Governorate, Iraq
Result	U.S. Victory

Belligerents

Commanders and leaders

Maj.Gen.Benjamin R.Mixon

Maj.Gen.Ahmed al-Kozaee

Brig.Gen. Abdul Karim al-Obaidi †

Abu Ayyub al-Masri

Strength

4,200 (U.S. forces)
20,000 (Iraqi forces)
2,000 (Peshmerga)

2,000

Casualties and losses

106 killed (U.S. forces),
300 killed (Iraqi security forces)
22 killed (U.S.-allied Iraqi militia)
Total: 428 killed

1,070+ killed, 500 captured

Iraqi insurgency

The Diyala province campaign was a series of operations conducted by coalition forces against Iraqi insurgents and a number of bombing and guerrilla attacks against the security forces in Diyala Governorate of Iraq, with the purpose of control of the province.

In 2006, Diyala province had special significance for the insurgents. When Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, he designated Diyala as the capital of the Islamic caliphate he planned to establish in the country. He located his headquarters in a village north-west of Baqubah. In April 2006, on Saddam Hussein's birthday, insurgents launched a coordinated offensive throughout the province, attacking Muqdadiyah, Balad Ruz, Kanaan, Khalis, Khan Bani Sa'ad and the capital Baqubah. The insurgents used the rural areas east and southeast of the capital, from Balad Ruz to Turki as supply bases for their bombing campaigns in Baghdad and Diyala. They were also based in the Diyala river valley, northeast of Baqubah, where they fought for control of Muqdadiyah, an important line of communication to Lake Hamrin, Kirkuk and Iran. The insurgents also had control of the tribal areas of Khan Bani Sa'ad south of Baqubah to Salman Pak, south-east of Baghdad.

Shortly after the insurgent victory in Baghdad after Operation Together Forward insurgents began, little by little, moving their resources from Baghdad, now more than 80 percent under insurgent control, and Al Anbar province, which was also almost completely under insurgent control, to the province of Diyala northeast of Baghdad. The first signs of increased insurgent activity in Diyala came after U.S. forces found an insurgent bunker complex near the village of Turki and fought a bloody battle. Also a few weeks later fighting between police and insurgents after an attack on Baquba's police headquarters shuts down the city, closing the university, schools and most stores, and clearing the streets of everyone, except a few who scurry about to stock up on food. At least 55 militants are killed in clashes in the preceding days, according to anonymous police sources. During the fighting a mass grave with 28 bodies was discovered. After that U.S. and Iraqi forces begin raids in the city. The morgue in the city reports by the beginning of December 2006 that it had received 102 bodies in the previous two weeks. After the announcement of a new attempt by the U.S. and Iraqi security forces to take back the streets of Baghdad the insurgents started to speed up their move and it is believed that the reason behind the little resistance found by the security forces in Baghdad during Operation Law and Order is that most of the insurgents have moved to Diyala.

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Wikipedia