Displaced Iraqis still fear return

BAQUBA, Iraq, July 14 (UPI) -- Conflicts erupting from ethnic tensions in Iraq's Diyala province are preventing many internally displaced people from returning home, local officials said.

Tensions between Sunni and Shiite militias, as well as outbreaks of violence among Kurds and Arabs in the region, forced many Iraqis from their homes since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"Gunmen are still active in some areas, especially in the suburbs where Sunni extremists are preventing Shiite families from returning to their homes and farms," said Diyala provincial leader Ibrahim Bajilan.

Bajilan said roughly 150,000 individuals fled the region since the U.S.-led invasion. All of the 600 families that came back to their homes have done so exclusively in the provincial capital, Baquba, the United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Networks said.

"Each side can't trust the other, and the fighting is still going on between these groups. We need a large-scale military operation to bring stability and security to the city," Bajilan said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced a pending military offensive in Diyala, though he declined to provide further details of the operation.

The Iraqi Red Crescent Society said in June that 82 percent of the 2 million internally displaced persons in Iraq are women and children.