War News for Saturday, February 09, 2008

MNF-Iraq is reporting the deaths of four Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers in an IED attack in an north eastern neighborhood of Baghdad on Friday, February 8th.

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - North Soldier from an explosion At Tamim Province (Kirkuk) on Friday, February 8th. Three other soldiers were wounded in the attack.


Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Around 8 a.m.: a roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi police commandos patrol at Qahtan square in Yarmouk neighborhood ( west Baghdad) .Two of them were injured with some damage to their vehicle.

#2: Around 8.15 a.m : a roadside bomb targeted an American patrol under Ibn Hayan bridge near Aden intersection in Hurriyah neighborhood ( north west Baghdad) .No casualties reported.

#3: Around 10 a.m : a roadside exploded on the bridge of Beirut intersection( East Baghdad) .One civilian was injured .

#4: Around 11 a.m : an American patrol defused a roadside bomb at the same place of Beirut intersection .

#5: Around 11.30 a.m : a roadside bomb exploded at Talbiyah neighborhood ( east Baghdad) .Two people were injured.


Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: Farther east near Baqouba, a joint patrol of Iraqi police and soldiers found a mass grave with 12 bodies, including three of women, according to police and morgue officials. The bodies were found in the al-Ehaimer area on the outskirts of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of the capital.

The Iraqi army found a mass grave of 10 dead bodies ( mortal remains) in Al-Ahaymer village ( 3 km east of Baquba ) .

#2: Today morning, gunmen killed ten people in Salam, Ameen , Tahreer and Jirf AlMilh neighborhoods in Baquba after the Sahwa’s decision of leaving the city and not cooperating with the Iraqi and multi national forces.


Basra:
#1: Unidentified gunmen kidnapped the imam of al-Quds mosque in southern Basra and led him to an unknown whereabouts on Friday night, eyewitnesses from Hamadan area said on Saturday. "Unknown gunmen kidnapped Abdul-Samad Abdullah, the imam of al-Quds mosque from his home in Hamadan, (5 km) southern Basra," an eyewitness told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq


Samarra:
#1: Meanwhile north of Baghdad, Iraqi police said a local al-Qaida in Iraq leader was killed in his home. Abu Omar al-Dori resisted police for about an hour before he was killed around 4 a.m. in his house in downtown Samarra, a police officer said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media. Samarra is a mostly Sunni town about 60 miles north of the Iraqi capital.


Hawija:
#1: Gunmen killed a man in a drive by-shooting on Friday in Hawija, 70 km (45 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Five decomposed bodies were found in a well near Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police and a local hospital official said.

#2: The same source said that unknown gunmen shot and wounded last night a Sahwa anti- Qaeda fighter in al-Sakhrah village, 30 km southwest of Kirkuk.


Sulaimaniyah Prv:
#1: At dawn , Five gunmen attacked one of the headquarters of Iraqi guards at Al-Yawa village near Banjaween ( 100 km north of Sulaimaniyah ) .One officer was injured in this attack.


Mosul:
#1: Four civilians were wounded by a blast when Iraqi soldiers opened fire on a suicide bomber's car as he sped towards their checkpoint in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, the Iraqi army said. The gunfire detonated the device before the car reached the checkpoint.


Al Anbar Prv:
Al Qaem:
#1: Policemen found three unidentified bodies lying on the main road linking the cities of al-Qaem and al-Rutbah in Anbar province on Saturday, a police source said.


Afghanistan:
#1: A roadside bomb killed two Afghan soldiers and wounded two more in the south of the country, the Defence Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. "The soldiers were conducting a security patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand province when their vehicle hit a remote-controlled roadside bomb," the statement said of the attack, which took place on Friday.


Casualty Reports:

Senior Airman Jonathan Higgins heard a scream from the driver's side of the vehicle. An instant later, Higgins' Humvee, the third in a four-vehicle convoy traveling near Baghdad, struck a phosphorous-tipped improvised explosive device. Only after the interpreter was safely in another Humvee and the area was secure did Higgins tend to his own wounds, which included second-degree burns and shrapnel in his right calf.

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Chris McGraw was hurt and three members of his unit were killed in an attack last month in Iraq. The U.S. troops later learned there were six fighters waiting for them -- at least one so close to a soldier, the two could have reached out to touch each other. ''They waited until we had walked right up on them when they decided to shoot.'' The enemy fighters fired bullets through the windshield and fuselage of the helicopter, which evacuated the troops to a combat hospital about 10 miles away. Back on the ground, McGraw was able to walk into the trauma center. McGraw was shot through the left shoulder, which ''should be OK,'' he said. ''There's some fractures in there with the bullet wound, but it's healing up pretty good.'' He also suffered nerve damage to the right arm.