Diyala tribal leaders mobilize against Al-Qaeda in Iraq

Much like Anbar province, where tribal leaders have united against Al-Qaeda, tribes in Diyala are now also uniting against the Al-Qaeda presence there. As the surge in Baghdad got under way, Al-Qaeda and foreign fighters fled the city in advance and moved their operations over to Diyala, where their presence has become intolerable for the local tribes there. Bill Roggio has the details:

In March, we noted the successful model of the Anbar Salvation Council will very likely be replicated elsewhere in regions where al Qaeda has established bases of operation. We singled out Diyala in particular, as al Qaeda's campaign of murder and intimidation was beginning to anger the tribes much as it did in Anbar province. Al Qaeda's establishment of its Islamic State of Iraq, with its capital in Baqubah made the province ripe for a major Coalition operation in the region. In early March, Al Sabaah reported the local sheikhs in Diyala were organizing against al-Qaeda and its Islamic State of Iraq, "which [is] spreading corruption in the province districts." Today, the speculation has become a reality, as "Arab tribesmen in Baqubah have said they will form a tribal alliance to cleanse the Diyala province of foreign fighters and those of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq."

Read the whole thing.