Iraq says forces poised for crackdown in Diyala

BAGDHAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces are poised to launch a major crackdown on insurgents in Diyala province, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

Sunni Islamist al Qaeda has sought to stoke tensions in the religiously and ethnically mixed northeastern province, which has seen a number of suicide bombings in recent months.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say a campaign against al Qaeda in the northern city of Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province has helped reduce violence. Diyala lies just north of Baghdad.

The crackdown will be the latest in a series of Iraqi-led security operations this year aimed at stamping government authority on areas once in the hands of Sunni Arab insurgents or Shi'ite militias. Besides Mosul, recent operations have targeted the southern provinces of Basra and Maysan.

"Soon, the security forces will be in Diyala to play the role they played in Basra and Maysan and Mosul, and Diyala could be the last stage," Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Major-General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf told a news conference.

He did not give a date for the start of the Diyala crackdown and it was unclear if he meant the offensive would be the last major operation to secure the country.

Overall attacks across Iraq were down 85 percent from a year ago, the Iraqi military said last week.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have been conducting security operations in Diyala since the beginning of the year.

"The new operation is going to be an ... increase in emphasis in that area," U.S. military spokesman Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll told the news conference.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by Tim Cocks)