General Mixon: Additional Stryker battalion being sent to Diyala

Above: Soldiers of Company B, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, from Fort Lewis, Wash., move between houses in Baqubah, capital of Diyala province in March. On March 15, 700 Stryker troops moved from Baghdad to Diyala. The next day they were met with sophisticated and ferocious attacks, including mortars, grenades and IEDs. One soldier remarked, "They always say the next place we're going is the worst — the most violent — and it never turns out to be the case. They really meant it this time." By the end of the day, at least one soldier had died, 10 were wounded, and 2 Stryker vehicles were destroyed.

Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of Multinational Division – North and Task Force Lightning, said Monday... the day nine American soldiers from Task Force Lighting were killed in suicide bombings in Diyala province... he is sending an additional Stryker battalion into the troubled region.

The province is the most violent area in the north and has seen “major fighting” since November, he said.

“It’s important that we get Diyala secure,” he said, “because it has major influence on what happens in Baghdad because of the support to the Sunni insurgency.”

From Army Times

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