However, Diyala has been one of the main battlegrounds between security forces and Sunni al-Qaida militants in recent months.Al-Qaida regrouped in northern provinces such as Diyala after being pushed out from western Anbar province and Baghdad by a "surge" of U.S. forces in Iraq during the past year.
Suspicion is likely to fall on al-Qaida for the Baqouba attack given the group's regular use of car bombs.
Violence had dropped off in Iraq's north in recent weeks, with most attention focused on fighting in the south and in Baghdad between security forces and the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
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