If you ever hear someone say that the “troop surge” is working, be sure to inform them of the rise in violence in areas outside of Baghdad which are now experiencing a flood of militants due to the concentration of US soldiers in the capital. The province of Diyala is once such area where nine US soldiers were killed yesterday. This attack was the bloodiest since the first of December, 2005 when 10 US marines were killed in Falluja.

A group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq has claimed responsibility for attacks that killed nine US soldiers in the eastern province of Diyala.

The Islamic State in Iraq said: “Two knights from the Islamic State in Iraq … driving two booby-trapped trucks hit the heart of the crusader American headquarters in the region of Diyala.”

In the group’s web-statement, they claimed 40 US soldiers had been killed in a double suicide attack, but only nine US soldiers were confirmed dead on Monday and 20 others were wounded at the military outpost near Baquba, the capital of Diyala province.

Diyala province has emerged as one of the most violent parts of Iraq after al-Qaeda fighters were pushed out of western Iraq and Baghdad by US and Iraqi forces.

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