Over 700 More U.S. Troops Arrive in DiyalaBy LAUREN FRAYER
The Associated Press
Tuesday, March 13, 2007; 4:34 AM
BAQOUBA, Iraq -- More than 700 additional U.S. troops arrived in Iraq's
increasingly volatile Diyala province on Tuesday to try to quell burgeoning
violence northeast of Baghdad during a security crackdown in the capital.
The Army's 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division
moved from northern Baghdad into Baqouba early Tuesday to supplement
about 3,500 American soldiers already stationed there.
-snip-While sectarian killings in Baghdad have fallen since the crackdown began
last month, violence has skyrocketed to the northeast in Diyala, where
direct attacks on U.S. forces have risen 70 percent since last summer,
according to U.S. military figures.
Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of the Army's 25th Infantry Division
and the top U.S. official in northern Iraq, said late Monday that the
decision was not a last-minute reaction to an uptick in violence there.
-snip-