War News for Thursday, October 23, 2008

CJTF -101 is reporting the deaths of three U.S. Coalition soldiers in an IED attack in a western province of Afghanistan on Wednesday, October 22nd. One additional soldier was wounded in the attack.


Oct. 21 airpower summary:

Russia Backs Keeping U.S. Force in Iraq:

The Philippines: America's other war on terrorism:

Philippine army says open for truce with rebels:

In Sadr City, a Repressed but Growing Rage:

Iraq: Health threat posed by aging water supply networks:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A suicide car bomber targeted an Iraqi minister during rush hour Thursday morning in Baghdad, killing at least 13 people and wounding more than 20, officials said. In Baghdad, the attacker rammed the car into the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry convoy as it passed through the central Bab al-Sharji area, a ministry spokesman said.The Shiite minister, Mahmoud Mohammed al-Radhi, escaped unharmed but three of his guards were killed, spokesman Abdullah al-Lami told the al-Arabiya TV station. At least 10 civilians were killed in addition to the guards, and 21 people were wounded, according to police and hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information. The guards of the government convoy opened fire into the air but stopped when U.S. forces arrived at the scene," he said.

#3: Wednesday Police found one dead body in Saidiyah neighborhood (southwest Baghdad).

#4: The commander of the protection force of the Diwaniya’s establishments died on Thursday of wounds he sustained in a bomb blast in Baghdad, the media director of the Diwaniya police department said. “Mohamed Abu Atra died today of wounds he sustained yesterday in a bomb explosion in central Baghdad, where he was in an official mission,” Brigadier Abdulaziz al-Salhi told Aswat al-Iraq.


Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: A bomb went off in a popular market in the city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, wounding 15 people, police said.

#2: A woman was killed and another woman and a man were injured on Thursday by U.S. fire in central Baaquba, a police source said. “U.S. forces mistakenly opened fire on them in Baaquba al-Jadida region in central Baaquba,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.No word was immediately available from the U.S. army on the incident.


Kut:
#1: A civilian was killed and another one was injured on Thursday by random police fire in central Kut, said a police source. “Police randomly opened fire on grocers violating the law in the markets region in central Kut, killing a civilian and injuring another,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.


Kut:
#1: At least two civilians were killed and two others wounded when a mortar round fell into their house in Wassit on Thursday, a security source said. “The victims from the same family were inside their home in al-Falahiya district, east Kut when a mortar struck the house,” a Wassit security house told Aswat al-Iraq.


Fatha:
#1: A roadside bomb killed two police in the town of Fatha, just north of the refinery city of Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. The police who were killed were part of a force protecting oil facilities in the area.



Afghanistan:
#1: Suspected U.S. missiles struck a Taliban-linked school in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing nine people in an apparent sign of U.S. frustration with the country's anti-terror efforts, intelligence officials said. The suspected U.S. missiles hit the religious school on the outskirts of Miran Shah, the main town in the militant-infested North Waziristan region, four intelligence officials said. The school was not believed to have any students in it at the time of the attack.
Relying on informants and agents in the area, two officials said nine people were killed, including four pulled lifeless from the rubble hours after the strike, and two others were wounded.

#2: Afghan National Army (ANA) backed with NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) killed seven anti-government militants and wounded six more on Wednesday in northern Afghan province of Badghis, said a statement of Defense Ministry released here on Thursday. "ANA engaged militants during a patrol between Qalay-i-Naw district, capital of Badghis province, and Ghur Match district," the statement said. "With the support of ISAF air strike, the joint forces killed seven militants and wounded six others," it said.

#3: A donkey loaded with explosives was remotely blown up close to a police vehicle in southern Afghanistan Thursday, killing a policeman and wounding three others, police said.
The force of the blast flung the vehicle into a ditch several metres away in the southern city of Kandahar, a stronghold of the insurgent Taliban movement that is behind an increasing number of bombings in Afghanistan. "A policeman was killed, two policemen and a civilian were wounded in the blast," Kandahar province police chief Mutihullah Qatah told AFP.