War News for Saturday, December 27, 2008

Focus One news is reporting the death of a contractor from an non-hostile accident in FOB camp Summerall, near Baiji Iraq on Wednesday, December 24th. Mersim Ademi from Tetovo Macedonia was working for Ecolog when he died.


USA Today: Israel launches air strikes on Gaza, 120 dead:

NY Times: Scores Killed Across Gaza as Israel Strikes at Hamas:

Egypt to open Rafah crossing after Israeli raids across Gaza:

Veterans of Iraq unit linked to violent crimes: Army plays down connection, but defense lawyers suggest a pattern...

Iraq Basra oil exports plunge 68pc:



Baghdad:
#1: A car bomb killed at least 22 people and wounded 54 more when it exploded at a Baghdad bus station on Saturday, a security official said. The bomb occurred in the Shi'ite district of Kadhimiya in northwestern Baghdad, where people typically gather at a major Shi'ite mosque on Saturdays, said Major-General Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for security operations in Baghdad. The U.S. military said the blast took place just after noon. Women and children were among those killed, police said.

#2: A civilian man was killed on Saturday in a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) inside his family house in al-Dora neighborhood, southern Iraq, police said. “A 30-year-old civilian was killed in a blast from an IED planted inside his house,” a security source told Aswat al-Iraq, adding the explosion caused severe damage to the house. “The police are investigating whether the IED was planted by unidentified gunmen,” the source said, not giving more details.


Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: Around 1 p.m. a bomb exploded in a market in central Baquba city injuring three civilians.

Khalis:
#1: A civilian on Saturday was killed by a group of gunmen in the north of Baaquba city, according to a security source. “Today, an armed group killed a civilian near a parking lot in downtown al-Khalis district (15 km north of Baaquba),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.


Hilla:
#1: Three persons were killed and 10 others were wounded when an explosive charge detonated on a main road near Babel’s Hilla city, a local security source said on Saturday. “An Iraqi army major and two Sahwa members were killed, and 10 others, including five soldiers, were wounded while they were trying to defuse an improvised explosive device (IEDs) in al-Bahbahani area (60 km northwest of Hilla city),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.


Kirkuk:
#1: Security personnel in Kirkuk have managed to defuse two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in two different parts of the province without causing casualties or damage. “Today, joint personnel from Kirkuk police and the Multi-National Force (MNF) defused an explosive charge planted near al-Maarid checkpoint in al-Khadraa neighborhood in southwestern Kirkuk,” a source from Kirkuk’s operation room told Aswat al-Iraq.


Mosul:
#1: “An explosive charge targeted an Iraqi army patrol vehicle in al-Intisar neighborhood, eastern Mosul, wounding a patrolman,” an Iraqi army source told Aswat al-Iraq.

#2: “Another IED detonated near an army patrol vehicle in Missan neighborhood, eastern Mosul, wounding two soldiers and causing damage to the vehicle,” the source added.


Al Anbar Prv:
Ramadi:
#1: A MEMBER of al-Qaeda in Iraq who broke out of jail has been killed in a firefight while two other prisoners on the run have been surrounded by police. The man killed by Iraqi forces, Imad Ahmed Farhan, was nicknamed "Imad the killer" because police say he has admitted to murdering at least 100 people. The men escaped from Forsan police station in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, yesterday in a brazen breakout.



Afghanistan:
#1: A suicide bomber killed three Afghan police officers and two civilians and wounded four in the southern province of Kandahar on Saturday, a senior police official said. The suicide bomber was on foot when he detonated the device next to a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Kandahar city, about 400 km (250 miles) southwest of the capital Kabul, near a highway connecting Kandahar to western Afghanistan. The policemen were in a military vehicle near the checkpoint and the civilians were also inside a car on the highway when the suicide bomber struck, the police official said.

#2: Two rockets hit west of Afghan capital Kabul Saturday night, killing at least three people in a family, a witness told Xinhua on the spot. One victim family member, who did not give his name, told Xinhua that it occurred at around 8:30 p.m. local time (GMT1630) when one rocket arrived suddenly and hit their house killing three female family members. He added that one child was also injured. Moreover, police officer Abdul Qudoos told newsmen at the site that there were two rockets landing in Afshar area, west of Kabul city. "One rocket hit the civilian house while the other fell into an open market injuring a woman there," Qudoos said.