The Operation
On 29 July, the Diyala Operational Command imposed a curfew throughout the province, restricting all unofficial vehicle movement, and a number of checkpoints were set up in the capital, Baqubah.
Iraqi forces conducted a number of house searches in Baqubah and Khan Bani Saad, 15 miles south of Baqubah.
On 31 July, Iraqi forces captured Abu Anas al-Baghdadi, Al-Qaeda in Iraq's media expert in the country, as well as four members of the Mujahideen Shura Council during a raid in western Diyala. Iraqi security forces lifted the curfew throughout the province.
On 2 August, the U.S. 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment handed over responsibility for security in Balad Ruz, in the east of the province, to Iraqi security forces from the 18th brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, indicating that the region appears to have been cleared.
By 5 August, Iraqi forces had captured a number of key Al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders, including Qussai Ali Khalaf, the head of Islamic State of Iraq in Diyala; Adnan Gumer Mohammed, Basem al Safaah and Antisar Khudair, a woman suspected of recruiting female suicide bombers. According to U.S. forces, insurgents appeared to be fleeing from Diyala westwards towards Salah-ad-Din as Iraqi forces pushed up the Uzaym River valley. U.S. forces from the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, set up blocking positions in Salah-ad-Din to catch these insurgents. It also conducted a number of air assaults into known Al-Qaeda rear areas.
On 25 August, the insurgents struck back when a suicide bomber attacked a police recruiting station killing 35 recruits in Jalawla.
Read more about this topic: Operation Augurs Of Prosperity
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