BAQUBA - As violence continues in Baghdad and southern Iraq, it seems quiet on the surface in Baquba, the volatile city 25 mi. north of Baghdad. But few believe the truce between the U.S.-backed Awakening Groups and the government security forces can last. The...
Shia Battles Spread to Baquba
BAQUBA - Battles between rival Shia groups have spread from Basra in the south to Baquba in the north. Clashes between the Mahdi Army of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the Badr Organization militia of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) have been reported in the...
In Iraq, Childhood Is a Thing of the Past
BAQUBA - Iraq's children have been more gravely affected by the U.S. occupation than any other segment of the population. The United Nations estimated that half a million Iraqi children died during more than 12 years of economic sanctions that preceded the U.S....
In Baquba, Happiness Is a Memory
BAQUBA - After losing sight of what they knew to be normal life, residents across Baquba seem to have fallen into a depression. Close to the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, March 19, Iraqis today say they feel humiliated in their own country....
Sahwa Forces Challenge Govt, and Win
BAQUBA - The conflict between Sahwa forces and the Iraqi government in Diyala has resulted in more power for the Sahwa. Tensions rose in early February when men dressed in Iraqi security personnel uniforms kidnapped two women. Their naked bodies were found later....
Occupation Strangles Farmers
BAQUBA - New plant diseases, attacks by occupation forces and escalating fuel prices are strangling farmers in Diyala province. Prior to the US-led invasion of March 2003, farmers in Baquba, the capital city of Diyala province 40 km northeast of Baghdad, struggled...
Tensions Rise Between ‘Awakening’ and Iraqi Govt Forces
BAQUBA - US backed Sahwa forces threaten to destabilize US-backed Iraqi government forces in Iraq's volatile Diyala province. The "Awakening Councils," known locally as the Sahwa, have left their centers in cities and districts around the capital of Diyala...
Baquba Losing Life and Hope
BAQUBA - Life has been bad enough in Diyala province north of Baghdad after prolonged violence, unemployment and loss of all forms of normal living. What could be worse now is the loss of hope that anything will ever be better. In Baquba, capital city of Diyala...
Iraq Unemployment Too Becomes an Epidemic
For a few, salaries have soared. For the rest, unemployment has. Many Iraqi workers enjoyed huge salary increases following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. But unemployment rose more sharply under policies introduced by the Coalition Provisional Authority...
Iraqis Still Left in the Dark
BAQUBA - Lack of electricity in Baquba has shattered businesses, and the lives of families. Months of power failures has darkened morale everywhere. In Diyala province, just north of Baghdad, a generation has grown up in dark. The province, and its capital Baquba 40...


