War News for Thursday, November 15, 2007

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division – North Soldier in an explosion in Diyala Province on Wednesday, November 14th. Four other soldier were wounded in the attack.

The Post Crescent is reporting the death of a soldier who was found dead in his barracks in Fort Bliss on Monday, November 11th. Sgt. James W. McDonald was recovering from an injury from a roadside bomb blast in Iraq in May. It is not known if the wounds were a factor in his death. We at this time do not know if he will be counted as an OIF casualty.

THE US military is experiencing a "suicide epidemic" with veterans killing themselves at the rate of 120 a week, according to an investigation by US television network CBS. At least 6256 US veterans committed suicide in 2005 - an average of 17 a day - the network reported, with veterans overall more than twice as likely to take their own lives as the rest of the general population. While the suicide rate among the general population was 8.9 per 100,000, the level among veterans was between 18.7 and 20.8 per 100,000. That figure rose to 22.9 to 31.9 suicides per 100,000 among veterans aged 20 to 24 - almost four times the non-veteran average for the age group.


Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen killed a woman principal of a high school in a drive-by shooting in the Shi'ite district of Kadhimiya in northern Baghdad, police said.

#2: two civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol went off in the Qasr al-Abiyadh neighborhood in central Baghdad in the morning, the source said. The explosion apparently missed the police patrol and hit civilian cars and bystanders, he said.

#3: six mortar rounds struck the al-Jaza'er police station, located on the edges of Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Sadr City, the source said. It was unknown whether the attack caused any casualties in the police station, which houses a joint U.S. and Iraqi police force, the source added.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A Multi-National Division – North Soldier was killed as a result of an explosion while conducting operations in Diyala Province, Nov. 14. Four additional MND-N Soldiers were wounded in the blast and evacuated to a coalition hospital.

Baquba:
#1: An Iraqi civilian was killed and two others wounded Thursday when the US forces opened fire on a car carrying them to a Baquba city suburb, witnesses said. The US military did not comment on the incident.

#2: unidentified gunmen kidnapped the son of sheikh Kazem Ibrahim al-Mahdawi, tribal chief of Mahdiya tribe in Baquba and took him to an unknown place.

#1: Also in Baquba, Iraqi police patrols discovered two dead bodies with signs of torture in Mandali area


Mahaweel:
#1: Police said they found the body of a 25-year-old woman who was shot and tortured in the town of Mahaweel, 75 km (45 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Tarmiyah:
#1: US forces said on Thursday they had killed 25 suspected Al-Qaeda fighters and arrested 21 in a two-day operation in central Iraq. The operation was carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday near the town of Tarmiyah, about 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of Baghdad, a military statement said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A suicide bomber targeting a senior police official in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Thursday killed six people and injured 22 others, officials said. City police chief Brig. Burhan Wasif told the Xinhua news agency in Baghdad by telephone two of the dead were policemen serving as bodyguards. "A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the convoy of Brig. Khattab Omer while he heading to his work at about 7:30 a.m.," Wasif said. There were conflicting reports about Omer's condition, with some saying he was critically injured and others saying he received minor injuries.

#2: Six Iraqi soldiers were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off on Thursday afternoon targeting their vehicle patrol on the main road that links Baghdad to Kirkuk, a police source said.


Afghanistan:
#1: A military chopper of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Thursday made an emergency landing in Logar province, south of the Afghan capital Kabul, a statement of ISAF said. "An ISAF AH-64 Apache two-person attack helicopter made a precautionary landing in Logar province today," the statement said, adding that the helicopter had mechanical difficulties and the incident is not the result of enemy activity, it added.

#2: Taliban insurgents killed a man teaching English courses in eastern Afghanistan, sparking a clash that left two suspected militants and two policemen dead, an official said Thursday. In eastern Paktia province, the Taliban on Wednesday killed an Afghan who was teaching English language classes, said Din Mohammad Darwesh, spokesman for the provincial governor.

#3: In southern Helmand province, coalition forces were searching compounds Wednesday when a gunfight broke out between troops and militants holed up in several buildings and hiding among trees, the coalition said in a statement. The forces responded with gunfire and airstrikes that they said killed "several militants."


Casualty Reports:

Sgt. Cindy Flores was wounded in the leg by shrapnel from incoming rockets a few months ago that killed two Soldiers and two foreign contracted employees and wounded five Soldiers and five foreign-contract workers. Flores’ projected six-month recovery, which began when she returned to Iraq on crutches, barely able to walk, has brought her to the point that she was able to walk across an outdoor stage Oct. 30 to receive a Purple Heart from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade commander and Traverse City, Mich., native Col. Daniel Shanahan.


Brian Snyder awakened in his barracks in Iraq when the explosive-laden truck rolled in. Soon he was outside dealing with the resulting firefight. Artillery shells, launched by U.S. troops to cut off the attackers' retreat, began pounding a perimeter outside the base, and machine gunners rained ammunition on insurgents trying to rush the entrances.
A second truck rolled toward a rear entrance to the base. That blast threw Snyder 30 feet through the air, tearing his eardrums and crushing the delicate cochlia of his inner ear. working -- leaving his post to vomit when the dizziness overwhelmed his stomach -- for another two weeks before he was shipped to Baghdad for a brain scan that showed he suffered a traumatic brain injury in the explosion. Today, he is home with his wife on the base. He has headaches that last for days. He is dizzy, and he can't always remember conversations that happened only a few minutes before, or the names of friends he has known for years. At home, a million miles from Haw al-Basha, he does not sleep well.
In the aftermath

Sgt. 1st Class Norris Galatas has suffered through 19 surgeries in less than three years since he was wounded by an explosion in Iraq. Galatas was severely injured by a roadside bomb in April 2005. A piece of shrapnel ripped a hole through his stomach. The injury was so severe it took 55 units of blood to keep him alive. Since then, the 44-year-old Meridian resident has spent most of his time in Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. A piece of mesh in his abdomen holds his insides together.

Matt Kingston, 22, was shot while defending an exclusion zone in the notorious Afghan Helmand Province.
Enemy fire ripped through lance corporal Matt Kingston's ankle and cut into the legs of one team mate and the foot of another as they finished a patrol.

Family members says 21-year-old Kain Shilling of Shueyville were flown to an Army hospital in Germany are hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds suffered last weekend in an attack in Afghanistan.. Both soldiers are expected to be transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. They were injured when their patrol was attacked by militants in the mountains. The attack killed six Americans and wounded 19.

Family members says 22-year-old Jonathon Albert of Toddville were flown to an Army hospital in Germany are hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds suffered last weekend in an attack in Afghanistan.. Both soldiers are expected to be transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. They were injured when their patrol was attacked by militants in the mountains. The attack killed six Americans and wounded 19.

Army Specialist Ryan Richardson, 22, was serving there for over a year when last month a roadside bomb detonated and wounded the 22-year-old. I stepped on a roadside bomb, it was buried under the ground. I didn't see it," Richardson recalled. His injuries were severe: there was shrapnel in his lower body and arms, burned hands, fractured bones in his face.