War News for Saturday, November 10, 2007

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division-North Soldier from an explosion in Diyala Province, Friday, Nov. 9. Three other soldier were wounded in the attack.

CNN is reporting the deaths of Six American soldiers were killed in an insurgent ambush while on joint-foot patrol in Eastern Afghanistan according to a NATO spokesman. Three Afghan National Army soldiers were also killed and eleven wounded when they came under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades during the "ambush." In addition eight other NATO soldiers were wounded. The Washington Post (AP) reports that the ambush happened in Nuristan province while they were returning from a meeting with village elders


Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: The first explosion killed two people and wounded nine around 6:15 a.m. in Baghdad's Baladiyat area, which is predominantly Shiite. The bomb was likely aimed at a passing police patrol, but missed its target — hitting the minibus behind it instead, an officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. Most of the victims were in the minibus, but some others had been riding in a pickup nearby, he added.

#2: Gunmen killed a motorist in western Baghdad, police said. The other passengers in the car, relatives of the victim, were not wounded.

#3: Three people were wounded by a roadside bomb near a fuel station in Bab al-Sharji in central Baghdad, police said.

#4: Gunmen opened fire on a car in Bayaa district, southwestern Baghdad, wounding two of the occupants, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A Multi-National Division-North Soldier was killed as a result of injuries sustained from an explosion while conducting operations in Diyala Province, Nov. 9. Additionally, three Soldiers were wounded and evacuated to a Coalition hospital.

Muqdadiyah:
#1: The soldier died when the weight of his humvee triggered explosives buried under a road in northern Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of the Iraqi capital, the Iraqi Army said.

Balad Ruz:
#1: The policemen were killed in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, when another bomb exploded on their patrol car, said the city's police chief, Brig. Faris al-Amairi. Five people were wounded in the attack, he said.

Baquba:
#1: a street vendor walking on a road in the city of Baquba was shot dead by unknown gunmen, security officials said.

#2: The same sources said that the city's hospital received four unidentified bodies showing signs of torture and gunshot wounds.

Khalis:
#1: A suicide bomber exploded his vest inside a house in central Iraq, killing four tribal leaders spearheading the fight against Al-Qaeda in Diyala province, police and the US military said Saturday. The attack took place Friday evening in the home of Sheikh Taha al-Obeidi in the village of Dojemah, near the town of Khalis about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Baghdad, Khalis police official Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed al-Obeidi said. "Several people were inside the house. The explosion killed four tribal leaders, all members of the Diyala Awakening Council," Obeidi said.
"The chief of the Awakening council in Khalis district, Sheik Fayez Lafta, was among those killed."


Samarra:
#1: At least 18 people were killed in clashes between al-Qaeda fighters and former insurgents who turned against the terror network, Iraqi police and a former insurgent leader said Saturday. Most members of the Islamic Army, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group that includes former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, joined U.S. forces battling al-Qaeda in Iraq earlier this year, though some of the group's leaders deny any contact with American troops.
A top Islamic Army leader, known as Abu Ibrahim, told The Associated Press that his fighters ambushed al-Qaeda members near Samarra on Friday, killing 18 people and seizing 16 prisoners. An Iraqi police officer in the area corroborated Abu Ibrahim's account, and said the hostages would not be transferred to Iraqi police. Instead, he said he believed the Islamic Army would offer a prisoner swap for some of its members held by al-Qaeda. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because of the situation's sensitivity. The clashes raged for nearly four hours Friday about 9 miles southeast of Samarra, the insurgent commander said. Police said they knew about the battle, but were unable to reach the site because it was too violent. It is an area known to have a heavy al-Qaeda in Iraq presence.

A police source in Samarra said 17 al Qaeda fighters were killed, as well as 15 Islamic Army fighters and villagers. An Islamic Army source in one of the villages, who asked not to be identified, also said 17 al Qaeda fighters had been killed but denied any of his men had died.


Baiji:
#1: Iraqi insurgents blew up a roadside bomb under an oil pipeline in the central province of Salahudin on Saturday, setting up a huge fire, a provincial police source said. The pipeline, which carries oil from the northern oil fields of Kirkuk to Beiji refinery, went into flames before midday in the Fatha area near the town of Beiji, 200 km north of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.


Mosul:
#1: About three hours later, another roadside bomb exploded near a minibus in western Mosul, killing two passengers and wounding 15 other people in the area, police said. Mosul lies 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Four civilians were killed when a roadside bomb struck their bus in the center of the northern city of Mosul, police Brigadier General Abdel Karim al-Juburi said. Another six people, including a woman and her daughter, were wounded in the morning attack in the city's Raas al-Jadha area, he said.



Afghanistan:
#1: Six American forces serving under NATO's International Security Assistance Force were killed in an insurgent ambush while patrolling in eastern Afghanistan, a NATO spokesman told CNN on Saturday. Friday's deaths make this year the deadliest since the 2001 invasion for U.S. military personnel. In addition, eight other NATO soldiers were wounded. It was not immediately clear whether those were Americans. The U.S. troops were on joint-foot patrol with Afghan National Army soldiers -- three of whom were killed and 11 who were wounded, NATO said. The combined forces came under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades during the "ambush." In response, NATO said forces fired back with small-arms, machine guns, mortars, artillery and close-air support.
At least one insurgent was killed in the clashes.

#2: A suicide bomber blew himself up Saturday in a failed attack which Afghan officials say was targeted at German troops in northern Afghanistan. However, ISAF forces say the attack was not aimed at the Bundeswehr. Kunduz provincial governor Mohammad Omar said that intelligence officers had been tipped off and were chasing the would-be attacker as he tried to position his bomb-filled vehicle close to a German military convoy. He was trying to get close to the NATO German convoy. When he realised he was being chased, he exploded himself. Two people were wounded, one of them an old man. The old man later died in the hospital," the governor said. But an ISAF official said under cover of anonymity that it was not an attack on its forces and there were no ISAF personnel nearby.

#3: A group of Islamic militants have attacked for the second time in less than a month the giant Buddha carved in the rocks of Swat Valley, in north western Pakistan. Despite the many requests for greater protection, the government has failed to intervene in any way to defend the 40 metre tall statue, the second only in importance to the already destroyed Bamiyan Buddha. The first attack, due to the extremists inexperience, had not caused irreparable damage, but this second one has destroyed the face, shoulders and feet of the sacred image. At the moment, the militants threaten a third and final assault.

#4: A clean-up operation against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province killed 11 people including eight rebels, a local newspaper reported Saturday. 'The sweep was carried out after the slaying of a tribal elder Hajji Tadi Khan along with his three bodyguards by Taliban insurgents Thursday,' the daily Outlook quoted Paktika's provincial governor Akram Khapalwak as saying. In the operation backed by International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), eight Taliban fighters had been killed, Khapalwak said. However, he did not identify the three others who lost their lives during the sweep.