Source:
APBAGHDAD - Iraqi authorities ordered a one-day vehicle ban in Baqouba on Friday in response to a series of deadly suicide bombings and other attacks by al-Qaida in Iraq against predominantly Sunni fighters that have allied with the United States.
The U.S. military also stepped up operations against al-Qaida cells and networks in Diyala province, of which Baqouba is the capital.
The U.S. military announced it had killed a local leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Muhammad Khalil Ibrahim, during a Dec. 28 airstrike in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, in an area known as the "Triangle of Death" just south of Baghdad.
Baqouba police chief Brig. Hasan al Obaidi said the ban was imposed because of the "increased violent events during last week." The ban in the city about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad also aimed to protect worshippers going to mosques for Friday prayers. It was to last until late afternoon.
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