War News for Thursday, November 22, 2007

Security incidents:

Iraq has boosted its oil exports to almost 2 mln barrels a day after reopening a pipeline to Turkey and hopes to sharply raise output in 2008, a senior oil official said. Falah Alamri, director general of Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation, told an international security forum that exports were now about 1.8 to 1.9 mln bpd, boosted by the 300,000 bpd now going from the northern Kirkuk region to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.


Baghdad:
#1: Suspected al-Qaida militants wearing Iraqi army uniforms killed up to 13 people in a raid on a district south of Baghdad today, according to reports. The gunmen shot dead three Iraqi soldiers at a checkpoint before attacking members of a neighbourhood security force, killing 10 people, the AFP news agency said. Reuters said three soldiers and eight civilians had been killed. The al-Qaida unit killed the soldiers at a checkpoint in the Hawr Rajab area of southern Baghdad, a predominantly Sunni district. Three soldiers were also injured. According to AFP, the militants then seized a military vehicle and attacked the headquarters of the Hawr Rajab Awakening Council, a local security force opposed to al-Qaida.

An interior ministry official confirmed three soldiers had been killed and put the death toll of civilians at 18.

#2: A roadside bomb went off near a police commando patrol in Baghdad's southeastern neighborhood of Jesr Diyala, damaging a police vehicle and wounding two policemen aboard, the source said on condition of anonymity.

#2: Another roadside bomb struck a police patrol in Baghdad's western district of Mansour, leaving two policemen wounded, the source said.

#3: In eastern Baghdad, a third roadside bomb detonated near a mini-van carrying passengers in the al-Talbiya neighborhood, wounding three people aboard, he added

$9: Huge attack on Baghdad's Green Zone as more than 20 missile shells land there.

A series of mortars struck the U.S.-protected Green Zone on Thursday, Iraqi police said, in an apparent attack coinciding with the American celebration of Thanksgiving. About 10 blasts were heard in central Baghdad just before 5 p.m., and a huge plume of black smoke rose into the sky as the sun was setting. The U.S. government public address system in the Green Zone also warned people to "duck and cover" and to stay away from windows. An Iraqi police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, said the blasts were caused by mortars that landed in the Green Zone. U.S. military and embassy officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.


Diyala Prv:
#1: In a similar incident, Al-Qaeda fighters attacked the village of Al-Kulaiyah, 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the restive city of Baquba, police Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim Abdullah told AFP. Abdullah said the villagers from Shiite Al-Ambagiyah tribe defended themselves and in the ensuing clashes nine people were killed. "Seven fighters from Al-Qaeda and two from the Ambagiyah tribe were killed in the gun battle that lasted an hour," he told AFP.

#2: The forces also blew up a boat on the Diyala River that was used by al-Qaeda gunmen, he added, noting that the operation was carried out without any casualties.

Baquba:
#1: Nineteen gunmen were killed Thursday by joint Iraqi army-police forces who had conducted an operation in Baquba Thursday morning to hunt down al-Qaeda terrorist network militants in the city, media reports said.

#2: Two tribal men were also killed in the operation and another three were wounded in the operation in north Baquba, Commander of the Diyala Operation General Abdul-Karim al-Rubaei told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Hilla:
#1: The body of a man was found shot near the city of Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Mandali:
#1: Separately, Iraqi military soldiers shot dead an armed man who was about to plant an explosive charge on the road leading to Mandali village, sources said.

#2: A civilian was separately killed in central Mandali, the sources added.


Najaf:
#1: Gunmen killed Wahab Jabur Haloub, a former member of Baath party, in al Mualmeen neighborhood in Najaf yesterday


Wassit Prv:
#1: Three individuals were killed during clashes between two tribes in Wassit over a disputed stretch of land, a source from Wassit police said on Thursday. "Clashes broke out between the tribes of al-Dalfiyya and al-Bahadil in Wassit's al-Dujila district over a piece of agricultural land, leaving three individuals killed on both sides," a police source, who preferred to remain unnamed, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Basra:
#1: The British base in the city of Basra came under indirect fire attack on early Thursday, the media spokesman for the Multinational Forces in Southern Iraq said. "The British base at Basra international Airport, northwest of the city, came under indirect fire attack on early Thursday," Major Mathew Bird told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "The attack caused no casualties or material damage," he added.

#2: A former Baathist was shot down by unknown gunmen in northern Basra, according to eyewitnesses. "Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Kilan Abu Hussein near his house in Hayy al-Muthallath area in northern Basra, killing him on the spot," eyewitnesses told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

#3: One civilian was killed on Thursday morning by unidentified gunmen in northern Basra, eyewitnesses said."At 10:00 am on Thursday unknown armed group opened fire against a civilian near his house in al-Muthalath neighborhood in northern, killing him instantly," the eyewitnesses told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq


Kirkuk:
#1: The decapitated body of a man was found in the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. The body also showed signs of torture.

#2: Gunmen killed a member of a municipal council near Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. The official was driving when he was shot from another vehicle.


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

#2: a car rigged with explosives driven by a suicide bomber went off on Thursday afternoon near a police patrol in Mosul's southern area of al-Mansour, wounding two policemen," according to al-Juburi.

A car bomb targeting a police patrol killed two civilians and wounded 12 people, including two policemen, in southern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Northern Iraq:
#1: A large camp in northern Iraq has been surrounded by Iraqi army, reported a Xinhua correspondent at the Turkish-Iraqi border on Thursday. Iraqi soldiers set up check points in front of the Mahmur camp in which people ran away from Turkey in 1990's are living, and do not let foreign people, including the members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) to enter into the camp. Turkey has claimed that the Mahmur camp was under control of the PKK and was logistics source for the PKK. Vehicles and people who want to enter into the camp are being checked by Iraqi soldiers.


Al Anbar Prv:
Ramadi:
#1: At least 13 decomposing bodies, including four women and four children, were recovered from a mass grave in the city of Ramadi, 110 km (70 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan:
#1: An accidental blast occurred as some policemen were playing with explosion materials at a police compound of southern Afghan Zabul province on Thursday morning, killing a district police chief and his eight-year-old son, a spokesman for provincial administration said.. "The explosion materials the policemen were handling suddenly exploded as Daichopan district police chief Ebrahim Khan and others were sitting inside the district compound," Gulab Shah Ali Khel, spokesman for Zabul's governor, told Xinhua. Three policemen were also injured in the blast, he said.

Casualty Reports:

Cpl. Aaron Mankin learned firsthand the power of one’s will on May 11, 2005, when a roadside bomb detonated in Iraq. The blast destroyed his unit’s 26-ton amphibious assault vehicle, killing six Marines and sending the Rogers High School graduate on a long journey to recovery. Mankin suffered second- and third-degree burns over 25 percent of his body. His face was disfigured. He inhaled heat, flames and debris that permanently damaged his lungs. There were surgeries to extend Mankin’s arms and widen his mouth, his father said. There is a tendency for the arms, hand and mouth to draw up because of the skin grafts and scar tissue. Mankin also underwent elbow and wrist surgery to restore flexibility. Mankin lost most of his nose and outer ears during the explosion. Other operations he had at the Brooke Army hospital laid a foundation for facial reconstruction, such as some grafting and a nose flap procedure, Steve Mankin said.

Army PFC Justin Kalenits “I thought I was going to die.” said Kalenits, 23, who was seriously wounded in an Nov. 9 ambush in the Nuristan province. “I don’t know how any of us made it out of there alive.” Six U.S. soldiers were killed in the attack and eight — including Kalenits were wounded. A bullet shattered Kalenits’ pelvis, his mother, Sue “I’m doing good,” Kalenits said Wednesday from his hospital bed in Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. “I’m better than I was. I can get into a wheelchair.” The soldiers were walking in the mountains after a meeting with village elders when the troops found themselves in a triangle of fire. “They opened up on three sides, about 150 to 200 meters away,” he said. “They set up the perfect ambush, and we got stuck in the middle.” Soldiers scrambled for cover, but the enemy — armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades — had the superior position. “We pretty much hunkered down and tried to get as much cover from as many sides as possible,” Kalenits said.