MUQDADIYAH, Iraq, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. military and civilian contractors are formally training Iraqi army troops and police as part of the effort to improve professionalism and bring stability to the country, but in a small slice of Diyala province an ad hoc program is being run by a participant and survivor of al-Qaida's attacks on New York seven years ago.

MUQDADIYA, Iraq, May 12 (UPI) -- Hassan Abbas Mahmoud is an optimist, a desperate man or both.

MUQDADIYA, Iraq, April 22 (UPI) -- Errant Iraqi police and criminal elements within their ranks are in the cross-hairs of U.S. forces in a move to protect improved security and sectarian reconciliation in Muqdadiya and its surrounding villages.

LITTLE BARAWANA, Iraq, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Despite the focus in the military surge and push against al-Qaida and its allies, the sectarian divide between Iraq's Sunni and Shiite communities remains a major concern and challenge for American soldiers.

HIMBUS, Iraq, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. and Iraqi operation to clear Diyala province's "bread basket" of al-Qaida terrorists is succeeding, but a climate of fear continues to grip its people.

HIMBUS , Iraq, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. military operations have transitioned from kinetic warfare to outreach efforts to root out al-Qaida-Iraq operatives hiding among the people in newly liberated areas of the northern Diyala River Valley.