Baqubah

Baqubah, بعقوبة‎, is the capital of Iraq's Diyala Governorate.
The city is located some 50 km (31 mi) to the northeast of Baghdad, on the Diyala River. In 2003 it had an estimated population of some 467,900 people.
Baqubah served as a way station between Baghdad and Khorasan on the medieval Silk Road. During the Abbasid caliphate, it was known for its date and fruit orchards. Situated on the main road and rail routes between Baghdad and Iran it is a centre of trade for agricultural produce. It is now known as the centre of Iraq's commercial orange groves.


During the course of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, Baquba emerged as the scene of some of the heaviest guerrilla activity, along with the Sunni enclaves of Fallujah, Ramadi, and Samarra. It was the site of the heaviest fighting during the June 24, 2004, insurgent offensive. Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, took responsibility for the attacks.
In a setback for insurgents, Iraqi and U.S. officials confirmed on June 8, 2006, that al-Zarqawi had been killed in an airstrike and subsequent raid 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Baquba.  During late 2006, however, Baqubah and much of Diyala province were reported to have come under Sunni insurgent control.  On January 3, 2007 the previous Iraqi government in Baquba was reported to have fallen, leaving the city in the hands of insurgents fighting against the American led coalition in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In January 2007, it was reported  that Sunni insurgents were able to kidnap the mayor and blow up his office, despite promises from American and Iraqi military officials that the situation in the city was "reassuring and under control". The city at its peak had over 460,000 residents, but a February 2007 report labeled the city a "ghost town" as residents either fled criminal and sectarian violence or remained in hiding at home.