Security Incidents for Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Iraqi motorists drive their cars in central Baghdad, Iraq, as smoke is seen, background, in the al-Sinak district, Wednesday, May 23, 2007. Unknown gunmen opened fire on commercial shops in a drive-by incident in the al-Sinak district, injuring 3 bystanders

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(1) MNF-Iraq is reporting the deaths of two Task Force Lightning soldiers in "an explosion" in Baghdad Province on Tuesday, May 22nd.

(2) MNF-Iraq is reporting the deaths of three Multi-National Division - Center soldiers when multiple explosive devices struck their patrol on Tuesday, May 22nd. A location for the attack was not given. However, MND-C soldiers are located generally in southern Baghdad or areas south of there. In addition to the deaths, two soldiers and an interpreter were wounded.

(3) MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier when his patrol was attacked by small arms fire in western Baghdad on Tuesday, May 22nd.

(4) MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of another Multi-National Division - Center soldier when his patrol was struck by an IED southwest of Baghdad on Tuesday, May 22nd. One soldier was also wounded in the attack.

(5) MNF-Iraq is reporting the deaths of two Marines from enemy action in Al Anbar Province on Tuesday, May 22nd.

(6)Finnish and Norwegian officials confirmed that a Finnish NATO soldier had been killed and four Norwegian soldiers wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated near their foot patrol as they were providing security for a NATO base hospital in Maimana, the capitol of Faryab Province in northwestern Afghanistan on Wednesday, May 23rd. This was the first death of a Finnish military personnel in the current fighting in Afghanistan.

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Baghdad:
#1: Two Task Force Lightning Soldiers were killed in Baghdad Province, Tuesday when an explosion occurred near their vehicle. Three other Soldiers were also wounded in the incident and were taken to a Coalition Forces’ medical treatment facility.

#2: Three Multinational Division Center Soldiers were killed and two were wounded in action when their patrol was struck by multiple improvised explosive devices May 22. An interpreter was also wounded in the attack

#3: An MND-B Soldier was killed when his patrol was attacked with small arms fire in a western section of the Iraqi capital May 22.

#4: A Task Force Marne Soldier was killed and another wounded when their dismounted patrol was struck by an IED southwest of Baghdad Tuesday.

#5: An Iraqi official says the body of an American soldier has been found floating in the Euphrates River south of Baghdad and has been turned over to US authorities. The US military says it has not confirmed the report. A police captain in Babil says the body, wearing a US uniform, had a tattoo on its left hand and had been shot in the head and chest.

#7: In another devastating attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the house of two brothers who were supporting a Sunni alliance opposed to al Qaida in the Anbar province, killing 10 people, including the men, their wives and their children, police Lt. Col. Jabar Rasheed Nayef, said Wednesday. The attacker, a 17-year-old neighbor, broke into the house of the two men, Sheik Mohammed Ali and police Lt. Col. Abed Ali, and detonated his bomb belt about 11 p.m. Tuesday in Albo Obaid, about 60 miles west of Baghdad

#8: In other violence, gunmen drove into a commercial area in central Baghdad and opened fire on shops, killing four civilians and injuring 14 others, police said. The attack broke out about 10:30 a.m. in the Khulani neighborhood near a historic Shiite mosque. A joint patrol of U.S. troops and Iraqi security officers drove off the attackers, police said.

This morning gunmen wearing the ministry of interior forces uniforms raided the Sinak market (not far away from the Green Zone) and tried to kidnap the shops owners. The gunmen clashed with the gunmen and later with U.S. and Iraqi troops, eye witnesses said helicopters attacked the attackers and burned two cars. The gunmen fled and 4 citizens were killed and 11 were injured. The same place was raided and gunmen in governmental uniforms on December 14, 2006 and kidnapped dozens of citizens.

Witnesses said the fighting broke out when gunmen fired on Iraqi and American forces in a central square. Medics at Al-Kindi hospital said three civilians were killed and 17 wounded.

#9: A suicide car bomber targeting a police patrol killed a policeman and wounded three others in Doura district of southern Baghdad, police said.

#10: U.S. forces killed two insurgents, detained 19 others and uncovered a cache of Iranian money and bomb-making materials during a raid in the Sadr City district of northeastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said

#11: Gunmen killed Colonel Talal Kareem, an officer in the Iraqi ministry of defense, in front of his house in Al Mansour area.

#12: Around midday clashes erupted between gunmen and soldiers from the Iraqi army in Doura neighborhood (south Baghdad). 2 soldiers were injured.

#13: Mortar bombs killed three people and wounded 14 in Karrada district in central Baghdad, police said.

Five civilians were killed and at least 20 others were wounded when mortar shells fell over Karada District, southern Baghdad on Wednesday. An Iraqi police source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that four mortar shells fell over different areas of the district. Two shells fell on Attar Street, killing four people and wounding 14 others. A third shell fell near the National Theater, claiming the life of one person and injuring three. The final shell fell near the district's hanging bridge and wounded three people.

#14: Around 3 p.m. gunmen attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint near the ministry of the Labor and Social Affairs. A general manager of the ministry, Salim Hassan Abbas, was killed as he was leaving the ministry at the time and near the attack place in Mansour neighborhood.

#15: Around 6 p.m. an IED explosion targeted Iraqi army convoy in Shurta tunnel area. One soldier was killed and 3 were injured.

#16: Police found 30 dead bodies all over Baghdad. the following is the number of dead bodies found in neighborhoods: 6 in Bayaa, 2 in Hurriyah, 6 in Jamiaa, 5 in Doura, 1 in Shurta Rabia, 5 in Mahmoudiyah, 2 in Sleikh, 1 in Kadhmiya, 1 in New Baghdad. Diyala

#17: Insurgents attacked a convoy of U.S. State Department members and their Coalition Force security escort with small arms fire at approximately 11 a.m. in the Rusafa District of Baghdad May 23. No MND-B Soldiers were killed or injured during the attack

Diyala Prv:
Mindali:
#1: At least 20 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded cafe in a predominantly Kurdish town near the Iranian border, police said Wednesday. "There were 20 killed and 15 wounded as well, all of them men. A suicide attacker blew himself up in a cafe in Mandali," said Lieutenant Ahmed Ali of the Iraqi police force in Diyala province, north of Baghdad.

A bomber wearing a suicide vest killed 25 people and wounded 30 in a cafe in Mandali, a predominantly Kurdish Shi'ite town about 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

Khan Bani Saad:
#1: An Iraqi officer was killed and three other soldiers wounded in clashes with gunmen in the town of Khan Bani Saad on Tuesday, police said.

#2: Three children were killed and three wounded in a mortar attack in the town of Khan Bani Saad, near Baquba, 65 km north of Baghdad, police said.

Muqdadiyah:
#1: A joint force of Iraqi and U.S. troops waged on Wednesday morning a wide-scale security operation in Muqdadiyah district, 45 km east of Baaquba, where they arrested 25 suspected gunmen and seized amounts of weapons and ammunition, a police source said.

#2: Gunmen killed a policeman in Balour area northern Al Muqdadiyah city today afternoon

Jalawla:
#1: Around 9 p.m. yesterday night gunmen killed 6 young men were gathering in front of a neighbor house in Jalawla city north east of Baqouba city. 2 of the men were soldiers in the Iraqi army.

Baquba:
#1: Security forces managed to free 7 hostages from a house in Zaghniya area northern Baqouba

Kanan:
#1: Seven mortar shells slammed into Kanan city, 15 Km south of Baqouba. Three residents were injured

Khalis:
#1: The morgue of Al Khalis hospital received a citizen’s dead body from police today. The citizen was killed in the market place of the city this morning.


Jbala:
#1: Also Wednesday, a parked car bomb exploded in a parking lot south of Baghdad, killing three civilians and wounding 15 others, police said. The attack took place in the town of Jbala, about 45 miles south of Baghdad.


Kut:
#1: The bodies of five people were retrieved from two rivers near the city of Kut, 170 km (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad on Tuesday, police said


Baiji:
#1: A hospital in Tikrit received the decomposed bodies of three men shot who were found in the town of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, a security source said


Hawija:
#1: Around 10 p.m. yesterday night (Tuesday May 22) an IED targeted the house of the municipality head of Al Hawija city. The blast caused damages to the house with no human causalities


Kirkuk:
#1: Police found two dead bodies in Kirkuk on the main road leading to Al Rashad town yesterday. The first dead body of a Turkish citizen his name Zandar Hassan Kareem and the second was for an Iraqi citizen, Jabar Kamal Uthman.


Mosul:
#1: A roadside bomb killed two members of Kurdish Peshmerga forces and a civilian when it exploded near their vehicle in Mosul, police said

#2: Gunmen killed a policeman and seriously wounded his wife in the city of Mosul, police said

#3: Gunmen killed a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Kurdish leader Masoud Barazani in a town near Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Sulaimaniyah Prv:
#1: Iranian forces bombarded northern Iraq's rugged Qandil mountains with mortars Wednesday, targeting Kurdish guerrillas, a local official said. The barrage lasted much of the day and targeted several villages, said Hussein Ahmed, the mayor of Bashdar, one of the targeted villages. "I expect there will be both human and material losses, but I do not know right now the extent of the damage," he told reporters.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two Marines assigned to Multi National Force-West were killed May 22 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province

Ramadi:
#1: The bodies of five people were found shot and tortured in different districts of the city of Ramadi, 110 km (70 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan:
#1: A Finnish soldier was killed and four Norwegians were wounded in a bomb attack in Maimana, Afghanistan, Finnish and Norwegian military officials said on Wednesday. The death was the first Finnish casualty in the Afghan peacekeeping operation. One Norwegian soldier was killed there three years ago and several have been wounded. The troops were patrolling on foot, protecting ISAF -- the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force -- hospital staff when a roadside bomb exploded about 100 metres from the base, Commandant Mauri Koskela from the Finnish Defence Forces International Centre told Reuters.

#2: A suicide attacker on a motorbike exploded himself next to highway police guarding a road construction project in the capital Kabul today, killing one policeman and a civilian. An SUV carrying foreigners that had its window shattered in the attack may have been the intended target, said police.

#3: In western Afghanistan, suspected Taliban militants beheaded a man and left his body in the Shindand bazaar in Herat province, said Mohammad Naieem, a border police official. The man's head was placed on his chest along with a letter purportedly from the Taliban warning that anyone working with foreign military forces would be killed, Naieem said. The man was apparently taken Tuesday night; his body was discovered Wednesday.

#4: In Khost province on Tuesday, a roadside bomb exploded as two trucks full of Afghan soldiers were driving by, killing four of the soldiers and destroying one of the trucks, said Wazir Padshah, a provincial police spokesman.

#5: Nine Pakistani government officials kidnapped by suspected militants last week as they inspected sites for development projects in a restive tribal region were freed Wednesday, one of the officials said. The nine, including six women, who were kidnapped in North Waziristan, were being transported to the main northwestern city of Peshawar, Zahir Ullah told The Associated Press by phone. "We were freed today. I can't tell you who had held us. We have arrived at Bannu and will be going to Peshawar," he said. Bannu is a town located near North Waziristan, a lawless region near the Afghan border where Taliban and al-Qaida militants are active.

#6: With foreign forces under fire for the deaths of Afghan civilians, NATO said on Wednesday that 85 people, including 40 civilians, have been killed so far this month by the Taliban's improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In roughly the same period, aerial strikes by U.S.-led coalition forces have killed at least 90 civilians, Afghan officials and witnesses say. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said 70 of the 85 killed so far this month by IEDs, including suicide attacks and roadside bombs, were Afghans. Another 250 people, including 118 civilians, were wounded.

#7: An Irish freelance photographer working in Afghanistan is recovering today in a US military hospital in Germany after being shot in the stomach. Press Gazette undetstands that former AFP man John McHugh was embedded with US troops in Kunar province when he was hit. Photographer Paul Francis, who has been in contact with McHugh, said: “He was with a quick reaction force which was responding to an ambush when they walked into a second ambush. “It was a heavy firefight – with several people killed and wounded – and he was shot in the stomach. He managed to find cover for about 15 minutes before they got him out in a Humvee.” McHugh cut his teeth as a photojournalist working for the National News Press Agency in London.

#8: The Philippine Embassy in Islamabad has confirmed that a woman found dead in a well in Afghanistan was a Filipina who was reportedly missing, local television network GMA News reported Wednesday. The woman was found dead in a well about 100 kilometers southeast of Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, on Tuesday, according to reports. GMA News quoted officials at the embassy as saying the woman's identity has not been revealed but she is known to have worked in an Indian company in Afghanistan before she was reportedly abducted five days ago.

#9: Unidentified attackers fired three rocket-propelled grenades at a German military base in Afghanistan, causing no damage or injuries, a defence ministry spokesman said Wednesday. The projectiles were fired at a camp in Faizabad, capital of northeastern Badakhshan province