War News for Monday, October 22, 2007

The DoD is announcing a new death, not previously reported by CENTCOM. U.S. Marine Corporal Erik T. Garoutte, 22, of Santee, California, died in Baghdad on Friday, October 19th. The DoD release did not give a cause of death, saying only that he was assigned to 1st Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Company based out of Norfolk, VA. The Associated Press quoted a Marine spokesman from Camp Lejeune, NC, as saying only that the death was "as a result of unknown causes." An article in the Virginian-Pilot provides a few more details about his military career. Garoutte had enlisted in the Marine Corps in November of 2005 and had received his promotion to Corporal last June.


Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: The first explosion on Monday occurred about 8:45 a.m. when a bomb exploded in a square frequented by municipal workers from a nearby building in the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah in southeastern Baghdad. Within minutes, another blast struck police arriving at the scene to help with rescue efforts. In all, three civilians were killed and 11 people wounded, including four policemen, in the blasts, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb struck a minibus near Kahramanah Square in Karradah, another predominantly Shiite neighborhood in central Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 12, police said. The blast tore through the minibus, which was ferrying passengers from Karradah to another square in Baghdad

Two civilians were killed and 13 injured when an explosive charge detonated near a commuter bus in Baghdad's al-Karada district Monday, media reports said without giving further details. Minutes before the explosion, a US patrol was seen passing the area. It was unclear whether the explosion was meant to target the US forces instead.

#3: Police also announced that gunmen killed Ahmed al-Mashhadani, an adviser to the leader of the largest Sunni Arab bloc in parliament, Adnan al-Dulaimi. The adviser was shot to death Thursday by gunmen in two cars as he left a bus station after dropping off relatives. Police initially said he was killed Sunday, but al-Mashhadani's party, the hardline Congress of the People of Iraq, issued a statement saying he was killed Thursday and his body was handed over by the hospital on Sunday.

#4: The Iraqi army killed three insurgents and detained 59 suspected insurgents during the last 24 hours in different parts of Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.


Kut:
#1: Gunmen killed a former member of the ousted Baath Party in a drive-by shooting in the city of Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.

Karbala:
#1: Fierce clashes broke out between Shiite militants and Iraqi forces in the Shiite holy city of Karbala late on Sunday, killing six fighters and a soldier, medics and police said. The fighting erupted when gunmen from the Mahdi Army, the militia controlled by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, ambushed an Iraqi police patrol, a police officer from Karbala told AFP on condition of anonymity. He said the patrol was struck by a roadside bomb and later attacked by small arms fire. The clashes started at 8 pm and continued until late in the night. The firefight took place in three western neighbourhoods of the city," the medic added. The police officer said three people from a family were wounded when their house was hit by a mortar fired by the militants during the clashes.

Seven people were killed and three others wounded in renewed clashes in Karbala on Sunday night, a medic in the holy Shiite city said on Monday. "The al-Hussein Hospital and the morgue in Karbala received seven bodies and three wounded," the medic, who declined to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). A policeman and a brother of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army member arrested a couple of months ago in a raid by the U.S. forces on his home were among the deaths, the source added.


Hilla:
#1: Gunmen stopped Gamal Ghalib al-Doghari, a contractor, in al-Shoumli district in southeastern Hilla, while he was on his way to work and took him to an unknown destination under the threat of arms," the source, who requested that his name remain unmentioned, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Iskandariya:
#1: A roadside bomb killed two men on Sunday evening in the town of Iskandariya, police said.

#2: Gunmen killed an engineer in the town of Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

#3: A civilian was killed when a mortar shell hit his house in Eskandariyah town today morning.


Mahawil:
#1: Two civilians were killed in an IED explosion in Al Mahawil town (15 Kms north of Hilla city) today morning.


Diwaniya:
#1: Abbas al-Ghurabi, a local Sadr official in the town of Ifech near the southern city of Diwaniya, was found critically wounded hours after local police had arrested him, officials in Sadr's office said.


Mosul:
#1: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed one policeman and wounded four people, including one policeman, in the city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Separately, an explosives-experts' team defused a car bomb in the town of Telkaif in north of Mosul, he added.


Kurdistan:
#1: Dozens of military vehicles headed toward the Iraq border. It was unclear whether the vehicles were being sent to reinforce troops engaged in fighting with rebels on Turkish soil, or were preparing for possible cross-border action. Tens of thousands of Turkish troops are already deployed in the border area.


Al Anbar Prv:
Al Ratba:
#1: A U.S. soldier was killed and three others were wounded in an armed attacked that targeted their patrol vehicle in Anbar's al-Rutba city at an early hour on Monday morning, an official police source said. "Two explosive charges were detonated and several missiles were fired at a U.S. patrol in northern al-Rutba city in Anbar province, killing one U.S. serviceman and injuring four others," the source, who requested anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "Two U.S. Hummer vehicles were destroyed in the attack," the source added, noting that U.S. forces cordoned off the scene and arrested five suspects. No comment was available from the U.S. side on the incident. During the past few weeks al-Rutba city witnessed several armed attacks against U.S. patrols, which caused several casualties to the U.S. army.



Afghanistan:
#1: A suicide bomber exploded himself Monday noon near a vehicles convoy of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in southern Afghan province Helmand, injuring three civilians, the provincial police chief said. The blast occurred at around 12:15 p.m. (GMT0745) in Gereshk district and caused no casualties to the ISAF convoy, Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, police chief of Helmand province, told Xinhua.


Casualty Reports:

The DoD has identified the Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier who died in a roadside bombing in eastern Baghdad on Thursday, October 18th: Specialist Wayne M. Geiger, 23, of Lone Pine, California. The Eastern Sierra (California) station KSRW has a brief article out on Geiger who graduated from high school in Lone Pine in 2003. He had enlisted in the Army in October 2005 and had deployed to Iraq in September of 2007. Geiger was assigned to the rapid reaction force 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, out of Vilseck, Germany. He is survived by his parents, his sister, and many other relatives and friends.

Army Cpl. Devin Eden of Danforth returned home Friday from Hines Veterans Hospital in Chicago, where he is being treated for injuries from a gunshot wound in Iraq. Eden was shot while on patrol on Sept. 8 and the bullet fractured a vertebrae in his spine. "They did back surgery in Baghdad at the military hospital there within a few hours of him being shot," his mother said. When he was transferred to a hospital in Germany "his status was paraplegic," she said. At the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, "he went through a lot of physical therapy and they started him on occupational therapy," she said. "As soon as he was able to take a few steps, they transferred him up here to Hines so he could go through their program as an outpatient." Cpl. Eden, a gunner with the 1st Calvary, 2nd Combat Brigade

The family of Bryan Castro, 20, a U.S. Army specialist who was wounded in Iraq last week, flew out of Guam Friday morning to meet the injured soldier at a hospital in Washington, D.C. Castro was shot in the head, possibly by a sniper, during a routine vehicle check. After emergency surgery in Iraq he was transferred to a hospital in Germany until he was stable enough to be transferred to the United States. Castro's first cousin, Rachelle Borja, said the family had been told by doctors that Castro has opened his eyes, but no other details are known about his health. This was the first update on his condition the family has received since last Sunday, when they were told that he was alive but unconscious, Borja said yesterday. Castro's team was conducting a routine check of a village in Iraq when they noticed a suspicious abandoned vehicle. The team surrounded the vehicle and then they heard a single shot, possibly made by a sniper, the family has said, citing information provided by Castro's superior in a previous phone call. Borja said the bullet struck Castro in the forehead, just below the edge of his helmet, and exited through the back of his head.

THE youngest British soldier to be injured in Iraq is fighting for his life after catching the C.diff bug in hospital.
Private Jamie Cooper – who nearly died after he was hit by shrapnel in a bomb attack in Basra – has also been battling TWO MRSA infections. The 18-year-old was serving with the Royal Green Jackets when he was hit by two mortar bombs in November. One severed nerves to his leg. He was then admitted to Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham. Dad Phillip, 49, from Bristol, said: “It is so cruel, it beggars belief.” Ninety people have died from C.diff at a hospital trust in Kent and Sussex. The Birmingham hospital refused to comment.

Airman First Class Michael Brady was wounded in the neck by enemy fire in Iraq last Friday. Brady was stationed at Vandenberg Air Force base and just received a purple heart a few weeks ago. Brady provided support for the Army as a combat camera man. The military says Brady is recovering at a hospital in Baghdad. He'll arrive at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Maryland soon and return home within a week or so, according to Vandenburg Airforce Base.
Vandenberg Air Force Base announced today that Airman First Class Michael Brady, a combat cameraman with Vandenberg's 30th Space Wing who had been deployed to the 732nd Air Expeditionary Group, Balad Air Base, was supplying visual information for soldiers on Oct. 12 near Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq when he was shot in the neck by enemy fire. Brady was treated at a military hospital in Baghdad and later at a facility in Balad, Iraq. According to the statement from Vandenberg, he will likely regain the ability to speak. He is currently being moved to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland

Army Cpl. Bryan Sarday, 23, of Johnson City, was wounded Friday during operations in Iraq. The nature of the attack was unknown. The injuries were not life-threatening, said Sarday’s father, Martin Sarday. Bryan Sarday is expected to remain hospitalized overseas for at least three weeks and is expected to finish the remainder of his 15-month tour, his parents said. This is his second tour in Iraq.