War News for Wednesday, December 12, 2007

CENTCOM is reporting the death of a Coalition service member who died from a noncombat related circumstances in Kandahar Province, Afghanistsn on Tuesday, December 11th. No other details were released. We assume this to be a U.S. soldier. Here is the CJTF-82 release


Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: U.S. forces killed 14 gunmen and detained 12 others during operations on Tuesday and Wednesday, in central Iraq, the U.S. military said.

#2: A grenade thrown from a car wounded three Iraqi soldiers at a checkpoint on Tuesday in Baghdad's Yarmouk district, police said.

#3: 5 civilians were killed and 13 others wounded in a parked car bomb in Ghadeer neighborhood east Baghdad around 3,30 pm.

In a Christian neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, a parked car bomb apparently targeting a passing police patrol killed five civilians, police said. Thirteen people were wounded in the late afternoon explosion in Ghadeer, police said.

#4: A policeman was injured when gunmen opened fire targeting a police patrol in Doura neighborhood south Baghdad around 5,30 pm.

#5: 3 employees were injured when gunmen opened fire targeting their car in Al Tobchi neighborhood west Baghdad around 4,30 pm.

#6: 3 civilians were injured when a mortar shell hit Al Hodood club building in AL Qanat area east Baghdad around 7,30

#7: Police found 5 anonymous bodies in the following neighborhoods of Baghdad (2 bodesin in Doura, 1 body in Palestine Street, 1 body near Nahdha Bridge and 1 body in Atifiyah.


Diyala Prv:
al-Saydiya:
#1: The headmaster and another teacher were reported killed when extremists opened fire Wednesday on a school in the town of al-Saydiya in Iraq's troubled Diyala province


Latifiya:
#1: The Iraqi army found the bullet-riddled bodies of two men from a Sunni Arab tribal council in the town of Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. The council opposes al Qaeda.


Amara:
#1: Forty people were killed and more than 125 wounded when three car bombs exploded in quick succession in the Shi'ite city of Amara in southern Iraq on Wednesday, police said. One police official in Amara said 40 people had been killed in the blasts, which all happened along the same street in the capital of Maysan province. A health official said 39 were killed and more than 125 wounded. One witness in Amara, 230 miles southeast of Baghdad, said the bomb in the parking lot exploded first, followed soon after by the one at the market

Three car bombs exploded in quick succession in a southern Iraqi city on Wednesday, killing at least 26 people and wounding 100 in a Shiite region that has largely escaped the country's sectarian bloodshed, authorities said.

The explosions were about five minutes apart, beginning about 10 a.m., when an explosives-laden car parked in a garage blew up, local police and an intelligence official said. Another car about 50 yards away exploded shortly afterward as people gathered to examine the damage from the first, police said. The third blast occurred across the street from a movie theater, also about 50 yards away, police said.

Kirkuk:
#1: Three people were wounded by a roadside bomb in northern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

A civilian was killed and two others were injured on Wednesday afternoon when an improvised explosive device went off targeting a civilian vehicle in central Kirkuk, a police source said.

#2: A huge explosion was heard on Wednesday in the northern Iraqi oil hub of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, Saudi-owned satellite TV station Al-Arabiya reported. Casualty is unknown so far.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen killed a policeman and wounded two others in a drive-by shooting on Tuesday in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.




Afghanistan:
#1: A roadside blast struck a NATO military convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, the alliance said. NATO did not identify the nationality of the killed and wounded soldiers or the exact location of the blast. Most of the troops in the country's east are American.


Casualty Reports:

Billy Johnson, 39, a former Framingham Police officer, had been seriously wounded in Iraq, where he is working for a private security contractor. His vehicle, the lead in a protective security convoy, hit a roadside bomb. Billy Johnson's right leg has been amputated below the knee, he suffered head trauma and a collapsed lung, but he is expected to survive, his wife said.

Jake Whipkey, 22, is less than a month removed from the sounds of rifle fire, mortar shells and the noise of war in Samara, Iraq. Whipkey is a unit squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division and the son of Marcia and John Whipkey of Boswell. Monday night was the first opportunity most of his friends and family have had to see him since he was injured on Nov. 18. Whipkey was shot twice in his right arm and six times in his chest while gathering intelligence. He was wearing a Kevlar vest, which protected his chest.

John Hyland was injured when a blast split his Humvee in Iraq's Diyala province Sept. 10, crushing his feet and fracturing bones in his