Word: baghdad
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...BAGHDAD Mortar round jolts U.N. chief; Iraqi PM unmoved...
...Americans deployed elsewhere in Iraq. That was back in November 2006. The streets of Diyala province then became deadlier than ever, as the string of placid farming hamlets nestled among dense palm groves shuddered with violence. The province and its capital, Baqubah, which lies 30 miles north of Baghdad, unraveled. The once mixed villages have become sectarian enclaves; banks, stores and markets have shut down for fear of murder and bloodshed. But at the end of February, the U.S. began patrolling the valley again, and on March 24 America struck back with force. The first target: the insurgents' safe haven...
...Bush Administration's buildup of U.S. forces in Baghdad has yielded some tentatively encouraging results: sectarian violence in the capital has decreased in the past month, and some displaced residents have started to return home. But in places like Diyala, the surge is having the opposite effect. The increased U.S. presence in Baghdad has pushed many Sunni and Shi'ite fighters out of the city into areas where they have found roles in ongoing battles, launched new assaults on U.S. and Iraqi troops and infected the civilian population with sectarian hate. Colonel David Sutherland, commander of U.S. forces in Diyala...
...Baqubah in November, tensions between Shi'ites, who make up 30% of the population of Diyala, and Sunnis were being held in check by tribal leaders. "It was manageable in the beginning," says Few. "The sheiks were working it out." But as the U.S. began shifting military resources to Baghdad, sectarian tensions erupted. Late last year the largely Shi'ite government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki choked off supplies of food and fuel to the predominantly Sunni province. Tribal violence, which has long been a source of unrest, intensified as resources dwindled. Sunni insurgents who had gathered...
...than three miles from the home of the leading Shi'ite in the valley, Sheik Adnan Qudban Hamid. Few, a graduate of West Point's class of 2000, spent much of his previous time in the valley working to bolster Hamid. After Few's men left the valley for Baghdad three months ago, the increase in violence restricted Hamid to his compound, keeping him from traveling the roads at all. When Few returned to visit Hamid, the sheik embraced him. "I love you!" Hamid said in English. Few and Lieut. Colonel Andrew Poppas, the overall commander of the soldiers tasked...