By Wikipedia BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials said they unearthed a mass grave northeast of Baghdad containing dozens of bodies. Human Rights Ministry official Kamil…
Baqubah is the capital of Iraq's Diyala Governorate. The city is located some 50 km (30 miles) to the northeast of Baghdad, on the Diyala River, just outside Iraq's so-called Sunni Triangle. In 2003 it had an estimated population of some 467,900 people. The vast majority are Sunni Arabs, with a minority of Assyrian Christians. The site has been inhabited continuously since Assyrian pre-Islamic times as a centre for agriculture and commerce. The name itself is thought to have come from the Assyrian Aramaic Baya 'quba, meaning "Jacob's house. " Baqubah served as a way station between Baghdad and Khorasan on the medieval Silk Road. During the Abbasid caliphate, it was known for its date and fruit orchards. Situated on the main road and rail routes between Baghdad and Iran it is a centre of trade for agricultural produce. It is now known as the centre of Iraq's commercial orange groves.
