War News for Friday, January 23, 2009

MNF Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi - National Division _ Center soldier in a vehicle accident in an undisclosed location in Iraq on Thursday, January 22nd.


Jan. 21 airpower summary:

Kurds report Iraqi army moving north:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A civilian man was killed by unidentified gunmen fire in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of al-Shaab on Thursday, police said. “Unidentified gunmen in a civilian vehicle opened fire at a civilian man in al-Shaab neighborhood, northern Baghdad, killing him instantly,” an Iraqi police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
Balad Ruz:
#1: Six women and two men were killed, in Bladrouz 30 km south Baquba, capital of Diyala province, when an unknown group attacked by machine-gun a primitive brick factory at dawn, a provincial police told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. A child was also injured in the attack, the police source added.

Gunmen shot dead eight members of a family, six of them women, in an overnight raid on their home in Iraq's volatile northern Diyala province, police said. The attackers then abducted two other family members, a man and woman, from the house in the village of Maamil near Balad Ruz, 90 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad, Balad Ruz police Lieutenant Abdul Jabbar Raheem told Reuters.


Suwayra:
#1: Four persons of the same family were killed by unidentified gunmen fire in northern Wassit, a security source in the province said on Thursday. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire today (Jan. 22) at a family of four in al-Zohour neighborhood, al-Suwayra district, (135 km) north of al-Kut city, killing them all instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “No motives could be detected for the killing of a father, his wife, daughter and son,” the source added.


Mosul:
#1: Joint Iraqi-U.S. forces killed three gunmen during a security operation in the city of Mosul on Thursday, the media advisor of the U.S. troops said. “Acting on intelligence information, U.S. and Iraqi forces launched an operation to arrest a leader of an armed group in the city of Mosul on Thursday (Jan. 22),” the advisor told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The forces came under fire attack, forcing them to respond, killing three gunmen,” he also said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A remote-controlled bomb targeting a military convoy on Friday killed a civilian and injured two others in northwest Pakistan's troubled Swat valley, security officials said. The bombing took place at a village near the town of Mingora, where the military is battling militants loyal to Mullah Fazlullah who have launched a violent campaign to impose Islamic law in the area. 'One civilian travelling in a car was killed and two others sitting with him were injured by shrapnel,' a security official was quoted as telling AFP news agency.A soldier was also injured, the official said. He added that the main convoy was unscathed because the road-side bomb went off when the convoy had just passed by.

#2: Later, a suicide car-bomber killed two soldiers and wounded 11 people in an attack on a checkpost, the military said.

#3: Intelligence officials say a suspected U.S. missile strike has killed at least five people in a Pakistani village close to the Afghan border. The officials say Friday's attack took place in North Waziristan. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. The identities of the victims were not immediately known.


Casualty Reports:

Australian Private Matthew Pepi was wounded in combat against Taliban fighters last month he suffered injuries to his lower body.

Marine Corporal Derrick Sharpe in 2006, the Marine from the Berwick area stepped on an explosive device while serving in Iraq. He lost his right leg and suffered such severe injuries that doctors told him he would never be able to have a child. "Well over 100 surgeries. I'm covered from head to toes with injuries and stuff like that.