War News for Friday, May 09, 2008

Reuters is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier during an operation in Paktia Province, Afghanistan on Friday, May 9th as stated by NATO. No other details were released.

Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Meanwhile, the U.S. military on Friday said U.S. soldiers killed six Shiite extremists, who attacked U.S. forces with shoulder fired rockets and small arms, in several clashes in Baghdad's Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City on Thursday.

Battles between Shiite fighters and US forces in Baghdad's militia stronghold of Sadr City killed four people and wounded 51 others overnight, Iraqi security and medical officials said on Friday. A security official said the clashes erupted before midnight and continued until Friday morning. A medic at Al-Sadr hospital confirmed his facility had received four bodies of people killed and admitted 51 others who had been wounded.

#2: U.S. forces have killed 14 militants in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City, a stronghold of gunmen loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the military said on Friday. The gunmen were killed in several clashes on Thursday, the military said in a statement.

#3: Hospitals in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City has received since Thursday evening 19 bodies and 85 others wounded as a result of clashes between gunmen and Iraqi security forces, a medic said on Friday. "The Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City received 15 corpses and 70 others wounded, while al-Shahid al-Sadr hospital, also in Sadr City, received four corpses and 15 others wounded. Women and children were among the victims," a medic told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.

#4: A mortar bomb hit the roof of the BBC office in central Baghdad today, but there were no casualties, security officials and witnesses told AFP. A security official said the projectile struck the building in the Karrada district of Baghdad at around 2:45 pm (1145 GMT). A witness said the shell gouged a hole in the roof of the building but no one was hurt.

#5: Three civilians were wounded when a Katyusha rocket landed in Mansour district, western Baghdad, police said.

#6: 4 mortar rounds slammed into the Green Zone at 3.30 pm Friday. No casualties were reported.

#7: 1 Katyusha rocket hit al-Harthiyah neighbourhood, central Baghdad at 3.45 pm. It slammed into an empty area and injured 3 civilians.

#8: 8 people injured during air strikes by US forces on Obaidi neighbourhood, east Baghdad and Fdhailiyah neighbourhood near Sadr city at 4 pm, said Iraqi police. No comment was available from the US military at the time of publication.

#9: 1 mortar round fell on Fdhailiyah neighbourhood, northeast Baghdad at around 5 pm killing 2 civilians, injuring another 8.

#10: 2 mortar rounds fell on the Green Zone at 5.15 pm. No casualties were reported.

#11: 1 mortar round fell on Palestine Street east of central Baghdad at 6 pm; it hit a house and injured 3 of its inhabitants.

#12: 2 unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad by Iraqi Police today. 1 in Obaidi and 1 in Saidiyah.

Diyala Prv:
#1: A woman was killed and two persons were injured in a bomb blast in south of Baaquba, while Iraqi-U.S. forces arrested two policemen in northeast of the city, a security source said on Friday. "An improvised explosive device went off targeting a civilian vehicle in Arab Jabara village in Bani Saad district, south of Baaquba, killing a woman and injuring two others," the source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq.


Basra:
#1: In one incident, an Iraqi soldier was killed and three others were wounded when gunmen attacked their patrol in al-Askari neighbourhood, some 35 km west of Basra, a police official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#2: In another clash, five civilians were killed and 10 wounded. Two houses and a civilian car were also damaged in the gunfight, the official said.

#3: Witnesses in Basra said Mahdi militiamen of radical Shia cleric Muqtaba al-Sadr had fired 30 rockets at the Iraqi army headquarter and the US base here Thursday. A military statement said two civilian contractors were killed and eight wounded, including four US soldiers, when rockets hit a convoy of the coalition forces at around 1120 GMT Thursday.


Yathreb:
#1: Clashes broke out in Salah al-Din province on Friday when gunmen assaulted a police station, leaving eight people wounded, including five civilians, police said. "A number of gunmen attacked the Yathreb police station with missiles and machin-guns, making use of the thick orchards near the building," a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq on customary condition of anonymity. "An exchange of fire lasted for nearly one hour. Three policemen and five civilian local residents, including three women, were wounded," the source added. Yathreb, an area in the district of Balad, lies 80 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Three policemen and five civilians were wounded when militants fired rifles and rocket propelled grenades at a police station near the town of Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, then set fire to it, police said.


Baiji:
#1: Gunmen shot dead three U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol members near their checkpoints in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, the captain of the Baiji police force, Imad al-Qaisi, said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Four Iraqi soldiers were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their convoy in southwest Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Casualty Reports:

Major David Beardi with the 402nd Civil Affairs Army Reserve Unit out of the Town of Tonawanda, Beardi was severely injured 11 months later (oct. 06) by an improvised explosive device, or IED, while stationed at the Forward Operating Base Speicher in Tikrit, 90 miles north of Baghdad. 14 months after being airlifted out of Iraq to an Army hospital in Germany. He spent many months recuperating in Walter Reed Army Medical Center before returning home in September.

Staff Sgt. John Kriesel lost both of his legs during a roadside bombing in Iraq last year.

Bryan Currie was seriously wounded in Afghanistan, we was treated in-country and sent back to combat. Five months later, he returned with his unit to the U.S., where he sought help from the Army for PTSD. He was classified as undeployable, but the only help the Army offered was to push pills at him. His chain of command had him re-classified as deployable, and two days before his unit was sent to Iraq, he went AWOL. He talked with Courage to Resist from South Carolina.