War News for Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi minister survived a roadside bomb explosion near his convoy in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday morning, an Interior Ministry source said. "Waheed Kareem, minister of electricity, escaped unhurt from a roadside bomb explosion targeting his convoy in Zayouna neighborhood," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Kareem was heading for his work during the attack which wounded two bystanders, the source said.

Three bodyguards of Electricity Minister Kareem Waheed and two civilians were wounded when his motorcade came under an improvised explosive device attack in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.

#2: Monday Two unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad by Iraqi Police today; one in Waziriyah and the other in Sheikh Maroof.

#3: Around 4:30 pm a mortar shell hit Salhiyah neighborhood(downtown Baghdad). Two people were killed including one traffic policeman and nine others wounded including another traffic policeman.

#4: Police found one dead body in Dora neighborhood in south Baghdad


Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: Two suicide bombers detonated explosives-laden vests, one after the other, outside an Iraqi army base Tuesday, killing at least 28 people and wounding 55 others, officials said. Most of the casualties were army recruits, the Interior Ministry and hospital officials said. The attacks occurred outside the recruitment center at Saad military base in Baquba, about 37 miles (60 km) north of Baghdad. An Interior Ministry official said the attacks targeted recruits who were waiting outside the base Tuesday morning. The U.S. military confirmed the twin attacks but gave a lower figure for the casualties.

At least 35 people have been killed and more than 50 injured in a double suicide bombing north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, army sources say. The two attackers mingled with a crowd of would-be recruits at an army base in the city of Baquba and then blew themselves up simultaneously, they say. At least one of the bombers is said to have been disguised as a soldier.


Iskandariya:
#1: A bomb killed one member of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol unit and wounded another on Monday in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Sunni Arab and Shi'ite gunmen from rival tribes clashed in Iskandaria, 40 km (25 miles south of Baghdad), leaving two dead, police said.


Basra:
#1: An Iranian Coast Guard patrol opened fire upon an Iraqi fisherman fishing in Iraqi waters off the coast of Fao district 100 km to the south of Basra City, said Iraqi Police. The fisherman was hit squarely in the back and barely made it to hospital.


Tikrit:
#1: Around 9am a bomb planted inside a police car detonated in downtown Tikrit city. The policeman was injured in that incident.


Kirkuk:
#1: Three Quick Intervention Force personnel were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near their patrol in central Kirkuk on Tuesday, a police source in the city said. "An IED went off today near the Baghdad Garage, in central Kirkuk, when a Quick Intervention force patrol was passing by, wounding three of them and causing damage to their vehicle," the source, who asked not to have his name mentioned, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.


Mosul:
#1: Two Iraqi women were killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen in eastern Mosul city on Tuesday, a security source in Ninewa province said. "Two gunmen in a civilian vehicle opened fire at two women in the area of al-Karama, eastern Mosul, killing them instantly," the source, who refused to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.

#2: "A roadside vehicle rigged with explosives went off near an Iraqi army patrol in the area of 17 Tammuz, western Mosul, wounding six people, including two patrol men," a police source who spoke only on condition of anonymity told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.

#3: In another incident, "a suicide bomber was trying to ram his explosive vehicle into an Iraqi police checkpoint in al-Nour neighborhood, eastern Mosul, when security personnel opened fire on him before he could reach the point. One of the policemen was killed in the explosion," Maj. General Khaled Hussein al-Hamadani, the Mosul police chief, told VOI.

A suicide car bomber killed eight people and wounded a policeman in an attack on a police checkpoint in eastern Mosul, the U.S. military said.

#4: An explosives-rigged car detonated on Tuesday in front of a security agency building in northern Mosul city, but no casualties were reported, a local security source said. "Today, a car bomb parked in front of a security agency building in al-Hay al-Arabi area, northern Mosul, blew up, leaving no casualties," the source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq.

A parked car bomb exploded by an army patrol in Mosul, wounding six people, including two Iraqi soldiers, police said.

#5: Militants fired mortars near a government building, wounding one civilian in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#6: A suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest killed four people and wounded five in a crowded area of west Mosul, police said.



Afghanistan:
#1: Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense says that seven insurgents have been killed in fighting in eastern Afghanistan. The statement says the clash on Monday happened in Wanat, a village in Nuristan province where on Sunday nine U.S. soldiers were killed when militants breached their remote base.

#2: Unknown gunmen kidnapped two Turkish nationals working on construction project in western Afghanistan, a senior police official said. Kidnapping has become a lucrative business in Afghanistan, where dozens of locals and foreigners have been abducted by criminals or Taliban-linked militants. "The Turkish engineers were working on a project in the town of Islam Qala, bordering Iran, where they were kidnapped from the vehicle yesterday afternoon," regional Police Chief Abdul Rahoof Ahmadi said.

#3: Taliban insurgents killed eight civilian passengers they seized from vehicles in Ghazni province on Monday, an official said on Tuesday. A Taliban source in the province confirmed the incident, saying those killed were spies of U.S.-led forces.

#4: A roadside bomb killed six civilians in southeastern Paktika province on Monday, an official said.

#5: Insurgents have suffered "heavy casualties" after attacking national army posts overnight in Wardak province which lies on a vital highway linking the capital with the southern and western regions, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.


Casualty Reports:

Lance Cpl. Justin Rokohl, 21, suffered numerous injuries in a roadside bomb blast that tore through his Humvee on June 20 as he and his unit were delivering mail in southern Afghanistan. Since then, Rokohl has undergone multiple surgeries to repair his broken back and most recently lost his legs, the left above the knee and the right below the knee, according to family spokesman David Cole, pastor of Cross Trails Cowboy Church in Orange Grove.