Iraqi Governor of Diyala Escapes Suicide Bombing On Convoy, Two Dead

Just when you had to be shaking your head in amazement at the lack of any viable attacks by al Qaeda in Iraq during the Diyala operation, a sucide bomber got to a convoy in Baquba killing two people but the Governor of Diyala province survived the attack. Here's the details from the Reuters story:

Iraqi authorities imposed a curfew on the capital of restive Diyala province on Tuesday after the governor survived a suicide bomb attack on his convoy.
Two people died and seven were wounded in the attack, when the bomber detonated an explosive vest near the convoy of Diyala Governor Raad Rasheed in the provincial capital Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad. Rasheed was unharmed.

But, when it is all said and done, the violence in Diyala has been extremely minimal throughout the joint operation by Iraqi and U.S. troops with literally hundreds and hundreds of al Qaeda and al Qaeda-linked insurgents being captured. I , myself, had predicted a much bloodier operation in Diyala so I am very glad to have been wrong about that.

One thing to point out is that as the operation in Diyala continues, it will be interesting to keep an eye on the violence levels in Baghdad - a lot of the bombings in Baghdad are staged in Diyala so if the operation continues so sucessfully, one would surmise that attacks in Baghdad would continue to fall off.

Iraq governor survives attack, curfew imposed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities imposed a curfew on the capital of restive Diyala province on Tuesday after the governor survived a suicide bomb attack on his convoy.
Two people died and seven were wounded in the attack, when the bomber detonated an explosive vest near the convoy of Diyala Governor Raad Rasheed in the provincial capital Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad. Rasheed was unharmed.
Iraqiya state television said the curfew had been imposed on the centre of the city from noon on Tuesday until Wednesday morning.
The province has been the scene of a major two-week-old crackdown by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces against Sunni Arab al Qaeda militants, who frequently employ suicide bombing as a tactic.
As violence in Iraq has dropped to levels not seen since 2004, the ethnically mixed province is considered one of the last remaining sanctuaries al Qaeda.
Many recent attacks in the province have been carried out by female suicide bombers, a tactic used increasingly by al Qaeda this year. It was not immediately clear whether Tuesday's attacker was male or female.
Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. soldiers and helicopters, launched a crackdown late last month in Diyala, searching homes and detaining scores of people. The Iraqi government said on Monday it was calling a pause for a few days in the operation to allow militants to surrender.