 The brigade area of responsibility included the city of Tarmiyah and the critical Main Supply Route Tampa, the densely populated Sadr City suburb of Husayniyah, and the Khan Bani Sa’ad and canal regions of Diyala Province.Upon the Raider Brigade's assumption of this battle space, Al Qaeda in Iraq basically controlled both Tarmiyah and Khan Bani Sa’ad.In Tarmiyah, insurgents had driven out the local police and destroyed the police station.