In 2006, Diyala province had special significance for the insurgents. When Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, he designated Diyala has the capital of the Islamic caliphate he planned to establish in the country. He located his headquarters in a village north-west of Baqubah. In April 2006, on Saddam Hussein's birthday, insurgents launched a coordinated offensive throughout the province, attacking Muqdadiyah, Balad Ruz, Kanaan, Khalis, Khan Bani Sa'ad and the capital Baqubah. The insurgents used the rural areas east and southeast of the capital, from Balad Ruz to Turki as supply bases for their bombing campaigns in Baghdad and Diyala. They were also based in the Diyala river valley, northeast of Baqubah, where they fought for control of Muqdadiyah, an important line of commu