Security Incidents for Friday, August 03, 2007

Photo: The Enterprise Carrier Strike Group: USS Enterprise Public Affairs

The United States have reduced their aircraft carrier presence in the Gulf region to a single carrier, Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command/US 5th Fleet told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Wednesday. 'This morning the USS Enterprise and four surface combatants have transited through the Suez Canal, entering the 5th Fleet area

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(1) MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier from enemy action in a western neighborhood of Baghdad on Thursday, August 2nd. Three other soldiers were injured in the attack.

(2) MNF-Iraq is also reporting the deaths of three Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldiers from an improvised explosive device attack in an eastern neighborhood of Baghdad on Thursday, August 2nd. Eleven other soldiers were wounded in the blast.

(3) The DoD has announced a new death, not previously reported by CENTCOM. Corporal Jason M. Kessler, 29, of Mount Vernon, Washington, was killed in a rocket propelled grenade attack "in northern Iraq" on Monday, July 30th. He was a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment based out of Fort Lewis, WA.

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Baghdad:
#1: Three Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers were killed and 11 others wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated near their patrol during combat operations in an eastern section of the Iraqi capital August 2. Four of the injured were treated for minor injuries and were returned to duty.

#2: A Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier was killed and three Soldiers wounded during combat operations in a western section of the Iraqi capital Aug. 2.


Diyala Prv:
Khan Bani Saad:
#1: police said a mortar and rocket-propelled grenade landed on homes late Thursday in Khan Bani Saad, a mixed town northeast of Baghdad, killing four civilians - two of them children. Six others were wounded in the shelling, police said


Najaf:
#1: In other violence, gunmen in the southern holy Shi'ite city of Najaf killed an imam with links to reclusive spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in a drive-by shooting.


Tailil:
#1: FIVE Australian soliders were injuerd in Iraq when their vehicle rolled over during a routine patrol. In the latest incident, which happened at 11am local time (1700 AEST) yesterday, an eight-wheeled Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV) from the Overwatch Battle Group (OBG) based at Tallil, southern Iraq, rolled over during a routine patrol. Australian Defence Force spokesman Brigadier Andrew Nikolic said the ASLAV was manoeuvring within a levee-based irrigation system when it tipped over. One soldier sustained minor upper body injuries and remained in a coalition medical facility for observation. The four other soldiers suffered minor abrasions and bruising, consistent with being inside a large, combat-loaded vehicle as it rolled over.


Basra:
#1: The joint coordination center in the Basra police command came under attack on Thursday night and Friday morning but no casualties were reported, the Multi-National Forces (MNF) in Southern Iraq said "The gunmen used mortar shells, RPG – 7 rockets and small arms in the attack on the center in the heart of Basra," the MNF spokesman told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

#2: He said, "all British camps in Basra came under indirect fire attacks during the past 24 hours but they caused no damage or casualties."


Kirkuk:
#1: A police officer and two civilians were wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen in central Kirkuk on Thursday evening, a security source said. "The gunmen, who were inside two vehicles without number plates, opened fire at Lt. Colonel Muhammad Naseh and two civilians, one of them a child, in the area of al-Qadissiya," the source, who declined to have his name mentioned, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on Friday.


Mosul:
#1: Clashes erupted on Friday inside the Badosh prison in western Mosul between U.S. forces and inmates, resulting in the death of one prisoner and the injury of two others, a security source in Mosul said on Friday.



Afghanistan:
#1: Members of the Croatian armed forces who are part of the ISAF mission to Afghanistan were attacked in the Regional Command West area in Dahana in the district Chahar Saden, says the Croatian Ministry of Defence (MORH). The attack was carried out with a manual rocket launcher on Thursday, August 2, targeting the police building in which there were members of two mobile monitoring liaison teams, 14 of them, who organized lodging for the night as part of the planned task to patrol the area. No one was injured in the attack and there was no material damage, reports the Defence Ministry, adding that all the members of the mobile monitoring liaison teams are continuing to carry on their tasks in keeping with the operation plan.

#2: Afghan officials are checking reports of civilian casualties after air strikes in Helmand province killed a large number of people. Residents have told journalists and provincial officials that between 200 to 300 civilians were killed or wounded in the raids on Thursday in the remote district of Baghran, which lies to the north of Lashkar Gah. Residents said that the incident took place when a huge crowd of people had gathered to watch a public execution by Taliban fighters. However a Taliban spokesman said that there was no public execution and those killed were all civilians attending a ceremony at a shrine. There was no independent verification of the reported accounts from either side. If confirmed, the deaths would be the highest civilian casualties caused by foreign troops since the overthrow of Taliban's government in 2001.

US-led coalition air strikes in southern Afghanistan targeted Taliban commanders and Afghan officials reported that a number of militants and civilians had been killed or wounded. The air strikes targeted two Taliban commanders during a meeting in a remote area of Baghran district in Helmand province on Thursday, the coalition said in a statement. "During a sizable meeting of senior Taliban commanders, coalition forces employed precision-guided munitions on their location after ensuring there were no innocent Afghans in the surrounding area," it said. The statement gave no details of casualties. In apparent reference to the same incident, Mohammad Hussein, the provincial police chief, said that several Taliban and civilians were killed in an air strike in the Shah Ibrahim area of Baghran district on Thursday. Taliban militants were hanging two local people accused of spying for the government. Other villagers had come out to watch when the bombs fell, he said. He said that 20 wounded people were brought to the hospital in Helmad's capital of Lashkar Gah.

#3: The Taliban on Friday claimed that it had kidnapped an Indian engineer in Baghlan province of northern Afghanistan. A local Taliban commander Bahlol said Taliban fighters abducted the Indian engineer, who was working at a local power project, on Thursday in Puli Khumri, the provincial capital.

#4: Five people, including a security official, were injured in a blast outside a police station in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) Friday, the Aaj news channel said. The crude explosive device was planted at a bicycle shop adjacent to the Norang police station in the town of Lakki Marwat, 175 km southwest of NWFP capital Peshawar.


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