War News for Thursday, January 08, 2009

The DoD is reporting a new death previously un reported by the military. Staff Sgt. Anthony D. Davis died in an undisclosed location in northern Iraq from small arms fire, a gun shot wound on Tuesday, January 6th.

The Canadian DND/CF is reporting the death of a Canadian ISAF soldier from an IED attack in the Shah Wali Kowt District, approximately 35 kilometres north of Kandahar City, Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, January 7th. Three additional soldiers were wounded in the attack. Here's the ISAF release.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers in a suicide borne vehicle IED (SBVIED) in an undisclosed province of southern Afghanistan on Thursday, January 8th. The Washington Post is now reporting that a suicide attack on a U.S. patrol killed two soldiers. At this time we believe the dead soldiers are Americans.

Army Sends 'John Doe' Letters To Families Of War Dead:

Iraq’s 08 oil revenues about $60 billion:

Iraq's Sadr calls for attacks on US troops over Gaza war:

Report: US had unrealistic goals in Afghanistan:

Injured vets wait forappeal process:

Russian Gas Cuts: US-Afghanistan Connection?: (off topic but worth the time to read)


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A civilian was injured on Thursday by unknown gunmen in central Baghdad, a police source said. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on a funeral in al-Ghadier neighborhood in central Baghdad, injuring a civilian, who was rushed to an unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
Jalula:
#1: Six Iraqi soldiers were killed Thursday when an Iraqi army patrol was ambushed by two roadside bombs as they were responding to a mortar attack at a police station north of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. Five other soldiers were wounded when the bombs exploded simultaneously at about 2 a.m. as the patrol was responding to a call for aid at a police station near the village of Jalula, said a security official at the provincial security headquarters in Diyala province.

#2: A third roadside bomb exploded in the same area minutes after the double blast, but caused no damage, said the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information to the media.

Al Saadiya:
#1: Unidentified gunmen shot down the brother of a leading member of Kamal Shakir’s Kurdistan Communist Party, inside a souk (market) in the district of al-Saadiya, Diala province, on Thursday, according to a party source. “The gunmen opened fire on 34-year-old Abdelrazeq Mohsen Ulwi, the brother of Nusseir Ulwi, who is the leader of the party in the Saadiya district branch, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Basra:
#1: Three rockets were fired from a vehicle at 8.30 p.m. Friday. One fell in al Mwafaqiyah neighbourhood, western Basra city injuring four civilians and the other two targeted an Iraqi Army checkpoint, but fell short and caused no casualties.


Tuz Khurmato:
#1: Police forces on Thursday found an unidentified body in the south of Touz Khormato, a police source said. “Police forces on Thursday (Jan. 8) found the corpse of an unidentified young man left on the main road in south of Touz Khormato, south of Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Gunmen shot dead the head of the Badr organisation, a powerful Shi'ite group, in Amerli district near Tuz Khurmato, 170 lm (105 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Rashad:
#1: In a separate attack, two Iraqi soldiers were killed and two were wounded when a roadside bomb targeting a patrol exploded Thursday morning near the village of al-Rashad, southwest of Kirkuk, said police Brigadier Sarhat Qadir.


Makhmour:
#1: Iraqi army forces on Thursday found an unknown body in the west of Makhmour district, an army source said. “An Iraqi army force found on Thursday (Jan. 8) an unidentified corpse of a young man, estimated in his 30s, on the main road between Makhmour and al-Qayara, west of Makhmour,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A roadside bomb wounded two municipality cleaners on Wednesday in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Iraqi police found the body of a man in western Mosul on Wednesday, police said



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Separately, two police officers and two suspected Taliban insurgents were killed after the militants attacked a police checkpoint in Khash Rood district of western Nimruz province on Wednesday, said Abdul Jabar Purdeli, the provincial police chief.

#2: In another incident on Wednesday, Afghan police clashed with a group of Taliban fighters in Tarin Kot, the capital city of Uruzgan province, killing one insurgent and detaining four others, Gholab Khan Wardak, the provincial police security chief said. He said one police officer was wounded in the four-hour gunbattle, while police seized three machine guns and a pistol from the militants.

#3: Militants shot dead a senior government official and his bodyguard in an ambush in Razmak district in North Waziristan, a known hotbed of support for al Qaeda and Taliban militants, intelligence officials said.

#4: Afghanistan's president said today that 17 civilians were killed during clashes between U.S.-led troops and insurgents. The American military insisted all 32 killed in the fighting were militants.

#5: An Afghan official says a suicide bomber struck a NATO patrol in southern Afghanistan, killing three civilians and wounding nine others. District Chief Naimatullah Khan could not say whether NATO troops suffered any casualties in the Thursday blast in Maywand district of Kandahar province.

A suicide bomber exploded himself Thursday afternoon near a patrol of international troops stationed in southern Afghan province of Kandahar, killing two civilians and wounding ten others including at least two foreign soldiers, said a police official. Mematullah Khan, police chief of Maywand district in Kandahar province, told Xinhua that it occurred at around 5 p.m. local time (1230 GMT) when the suicide bomber with explosive strapped under clothes approached the international troops on foot around district center then blew himself up.