Security Incidents for Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Photo: A Google Earth image of what I believe is the "Graveyard of Quraish" or the Cemetery of Quraish," Burial place of the Imam Musa al-Kadhim the seventh of the 12 Shiite imams and died in Baghdad in 799. A three-day curfew is in effect to protect Shi'ites gathering for a religious festival, has begun across Baghdad. Click on the image for a full size view.

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(1) The DoD is announcing a new death, not previously reported by CENTCOM. Marine Sergeant Jon E. Bonnell Jr., 22, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, died from enemy action in Al Anbar Province on Tuesday, August 7th. The Des Moines (Iowa) Register is reporting that Bonnell "stepped on a roadside bomb while on duty between Baghdad and Fallujah". A lover of baseball, he played on the pitcher's mound from the sixth grade right through his graduation from high school in 2003. At that point, he had already enlisted in the Marines, and quickly rose through the ranks afterwards. According to his family, he was on his second deployment to Iraq and was tasked with the dangerous job of patrolling for roadside bombs. Bonnell was his parents' only son.

(2) The British Ministry of Defense has announced the death of a Royal Air Force serviceman assigned to 1st Squadron, the Royal Air Force Regiment, from small arms fire in the Karmat Ali district of Basra City on Tuesday, August 7th.

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Baghdad:
#1: A U.S. helicopter strike in Baghdad's crowded Shi'ite slum of Sadr City killed 13 people and wounded eight early on Wednesday, hospital sources said. U.S. military officials did not immediately respond to queries about the incident. An official at Sadr City Hospital said it had received 10 bodies, while an official at Imam Ali Hospital, said it had taken in three bodies. Police put the death toll at 11 and said it included women and children.

#2: A U.S. air strike killed one suspected Mehdi Army militiaman in Baghdad's southern district of Amil, the U.S. military said. Five others were detained.

#3: Around 11 a.m. a mortar shell slammed into Al Bayaa neighborhood killing one resident and injuring two others.

#4: Around 11:30 a.m. two gunmen on a speeding motorcycle opened their machine guns fire on a group of young men killing one and injuring two others in Doura.

#5: Around 11 a.m. gunmen shot at a passing car of the ministry of labor and social affairs. Two women were injured (a mother and her daughter).

#6: Around 11:30 a.m. two gunmen on a speeding motorcycle opened their machine guns fire on a group of young men killing one and injuring two others in Doura.

#7: A Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier was killed and four others wounded during combat operations in a western section of the Iraqi capital when an improvised explosive device detonated near their patrol Aug. 7.

#8: A road side bomb targeted Iraqi army vehicle in Mansour. 3 soldiers were injured.

#9: A mortar shell slammed into Al Siha district in Doura. 2 residents were injured.

#10: A mortar shell slammed into Al Mualmeen district in Doura. 6 residents were injured.

#11: A mortar shell landed in Abu Desheer area. 1 resident was killed and 2 others were injured.

#12: Police found 11 dead bodies throughout Baghdad today. 3 iin Amil, 2 in Shuala, 2 in Doura, 1 in Saidiyah, 2 in Ealam, 1 in Saadon St.


Diyala Prv:
Jwamir:
#1: At least four Iraqi army troops, including an officer, were wounded on Wednesday when an army base and checkpoint in a small town near the Iranian borders came under attack, an official source from the Iraqi army said."an Iraqi army checkpoint and base came under attack with mortars and Katyusha rockets, today afternoon, wounding four troops, including an officer," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The source added "the attack targeted a checkpoint called Jwamir, 90 km east of Baaquba, near the Iraqi-Iranian borders."

Baquba:
#1 : A suicide bomber blew himself up in a barber shop, killing five people and wounding eight others in the Gatoon neighbourhood in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said


Diwaniya:
#1: MILITARY: Four Poles Injured in Iraq Tuesday - Four Polish soldiers were injured after a bomb exploded in their vehicle. The attack took place 12 kilometers from Polish military headquarters in Diwani, Iraq. [Rzeczpospolita]


Al Wahda:
#1: South of Baghdad, gunmen shot dead a man and kidnapped his brother, a member of the US-backed police, near the town of Al-Wahda, Captain Jassim Hassan said.


Najaf:
#1: And in the Shiite town of Najaf, gunmen seriously wounded the former head of a local water treatment plant, Talal Bilal, and killed his driver, police said.

#2: A gunman on a motorbike killed a lawyer outside his home in Najaf, police said.


Kufa:
#1: Gunmen attacked Talal Bilal, an assistant of the former governor of Najaf, in Kufa today. Bilal survived the attack and two members of his personal protection were injured.


Jurf Al Sakhar:
#1: Gunmen killed one civilian in Jurf al- Sakhar, 85 km (55 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Mahaweel:
#1: Gunmen killed a person in a drive-by shooting in the town of Mahaweel, 75 km (50 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Basra:
#1: Fierce clashes flared up overnight between British forces and gunmen, which lasted for two hours in Karamat Ali region, north of Basra," an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq. "Two British soldiers were killed in the clashes, while a number of gunmen and civilians were injured," the eyewitnesses said. The media spokesman for the Multi-National Forces in Southern Iraq, Major Matthew Bird, said that "A British patrol came under attack on Tuesday night by gunmen in Karamat Ali region." "The forces responded and killed 10 armed men and a number of soldiers were injured," he noted, adding no more details.

#2: A British serviceman was killed after coming under fire in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra. the defence ministry in Londonsaid Wednesday. "It is with deep sorrow that we must confirm the death of a British serviceman from 1 Squadron, RAF Regiment as a result of a small arms fire attack during an operation in Basra last night, Tuesday 7 August 2007. "The attack occurred at approximately 2030 local time in the Karmat Ali district of Basra City," the deparment said in a statement.


Samarra:
#1: Mortar rounds killed seven people in a residential area of the Sunni town of Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Dujail:
#1: Unknown gunmen shot and killed an Iraqi police officer on Wednesday in a village near Dujail district, north of Baghdad, a police source said. "An armed group in two cars opened fire, today afternoon, at Major Jassim Mohammed Shihan in al-Sadah village in Dujail district," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Yathrib:
#1: Unidentified gunmen blew up a major bridge in Salah al-Din's Yathrib neighborhood, which linked it to Balad district, a local police source said on Wednesday. "The gunmen detonated a truck bomb on the bridge by remote control, leading the 30-meter long bridge to collapse and causing severe damage to nearby houses," the source said in statements to the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

Hawija:
#1: Unidentified gunmen blew up a fuel station in al-Howayja district, south west of Kirkuk, killing one person and wounding another, while police forces found a body in southern Kirkuk, police said. "A worker in a fuel station was killed and another injured when unknown armed men blew up the station using highly-explosive TNT in al-Howayja district near the Technical Institute, west of Kirkuk," a source from the joint operation room of the Kirkuk police department told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

#2: A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded two others near a petrol station in the town of Hawija, 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.

#3: An enfant was killed and four members of his family were wounded on Wednesday when a mortar landed onto their house near Kirkuk, a police source said. "A mortar round fell, today evening, onto a house in central Hawija district, 70 km southwest of Kirkuk, killing a year-old-child and wounding four members of his family," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Kirkuk:
#1: An Iraqi policeman was killed and six others wounded in a bomb attack in central Kirkuk on Wednesday, independent news agency Voices of Iraq reported citing a police source. A roadside bomb planted on the main road near a gas station in al- Khadraa neighbourhood went off in the morning targeting a police patrol, the source added.

#2: unidentified gunmen kidnapped Abdul- Karim Darwish, the goalkeeper of the Kirkuk football team, on the road between the city and Baghdad, a Kirkuk sports club member said.

#3: the same source said that police forces found this morning a body in Wahed Hozayran region, behind the Technical Institute in Kirkuk.

#4: Gunmen opened their machine guns fire targeting a group of people in Al Urouba area not far away from Al Tawheed mosque south Kirkuk yesterday night. One man was killed and another was injured.

#5: Around 10:20 p.m. yesterday Gunmen stormed and bombed Abed Mutlaq Al Jubori fuel station using TNT explosives in Al Hawija west of Kirkuk. Sabah Hassan, worker in the station, was killed.

#7: A parked car bomb targeted a highway patrols vehicle in the industrial area in Kirkuk. 4 policemen were injured and one passing by civilian.


Dahok:
#1: A statement has recently been released by the Iraqi Oil Ministry indicating that the country's crude oil exportation through Ceyhan, which is a Turkish port, is soon to recommence, Iraq Directory reported. The statement also included that the Turkish government has showed its eagerness to import Iraqi solid gas after the Iraqi parliament's approval of the oil and gas law. It is of significance that the crude oil pipelines linking Kirkuk and Ceyhan have been under constant sabotage since the fall of the former Iraqi regime.



Afghanistan:
#1: Taliban militants clashed with police in the same district where 23 South Koreans were abducted by Afghan insurgents, police said Wednesday. Four militants were killed and six wounded. The militants withdrew after exchanging fire for about an hour with police at a checkpoint in Qarabagh district of Ghazni province on Tuesday, said Mohammad Zaman, the deputy provincial police chief. He said no police were hurt in the clash.

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