War News for Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The DoD is reporting what appears to be a new death previously unreported by the military. Lance Cpl. Kevin T. Preach died from unreported wounds while supporting combat operations in Farah province, Afghanistan on Saturday, February 7th.

The French Defense ministry is reporting the death of a French ISAF soldier during an IED and small arms fire attack near the village of Deh-e-Manakah, 30 km south of Kabul, Logan province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, February 11th. Another French soldier was injured and an Afghani interpreter was wounded in the attack.


Feb. 9 airpower summary:

Iran’s foreign minister in Iraq for economic talks:

Iraq invites contractors to drill 40 oil wells:

Soldier who fled to Canada to avoid Iraq war surrenders to U.S. military police:

Taliban threaten attack on Islamabad: The local Taliban leadership has decided to send its fighters to Islamabad as a reaction to the operations in Darra Adamkhel and Swat Valley and in this regard chalkings on the walls of Islamabad are already appearing, forcing the Islamabad administration to whitewash these messages quickly. Many religious scholars in Islamabad have also received messages from the Taliban that they have only two options, either to support the Taliban or leave the capital or they will be considered collaborators of the “pro-American Zardari government” which, they claim, is not different from the previous Musharraf regime.

Air force chief shot dead: - The air force chief of Azerbaijan, an oil producing state in the fragile southern Caucasus region, was shot dead outside his home on Wednesday, officials said.

Mideast weather roundup:

Kyrgyzstan accuses U.S. of ignoring air base demands:

US dealing with Canada'sexit from war: (2011)


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb explosion killed a Shiite pilgrim and wounded five others in southern Baghdad on Wednesday, an Interior Ministry source said. "An explosive charge went off near a group of Shiite pilgrims who were traveling on foot in Baghdad southern district of Zaafaraniyah on their way to the holy city of Karbala, some 110 km southwest of Baghdad," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#2: Raad Hussein Abdullah, a senior engineer with the Electricity Ministry, was killed by armed men on Wednesday morning as he left his home in the Ghadir district of eastern Baghdad, the ministry said in a statement.

#3: A roadside bomb exploded near a car carrying a police brigadier-general, wounding his driver, in Ghazaliya district of western Baghdad, police said. The police officer was not hurt.

#4: Gunmen wounded three members of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol check point on Tuesday in the Shaab district of northern Baghdad, police said.

#5: Gunmen in a car opened fire at a U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol check point and wounded two of them in Doura district of southern Baghdad on Tuesday, police said.

#6: A roadside bomb wounded one Shi'ite pilgrim and wounded six others travelling in Baghdad toward the southern city of Kerbala to mark the religious Arbain holiday. The bomb, which exploded in Baghdad's northern district of Waziriya, also wounded six civilians in a minibus, police said.

#7: Five people were killed and 20 wounded on Wednesday when a bomb planted in a parked car exploded in southwestern Baghdad, Iraqi police said. The explosion took place in a bus terminal in the Bayaa neighbourhood, police said, adding that the death toll could rise.

The death toll from car bomb attacks in a southern Baghdad parking-lot on Wednesday, rose to 16and up to 43 people wounded, an Interior Ministry source said. "Our latest reports said that up to 16 people were killed and 43 others injured when two booby trapped cars detonated at about 3:30 p.m. (12:30 GMT) in a quick succession in Baghdad's Baiyaa parking-lot," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Earlier the source said that a booby-trapped car detonated at the parking-lot and put the toll at five killed and some 20 others injured.

#8: Two civilians were injured by a roadside bomb in Mansour neighborhood in west Baghdad around 12 p.m.

#9: Around 1 p.m. a roadside bomb detonated in Waziriyah neighborhood in east Baghdad killing one civilian and injuring 12 six of them are pilgrims who were walking to Karbala province.

#10: Three civilians were injured when a roadside bomb detonated in Talbiyah neighborhood in east Baghdad around 7 p.m.


Diyala Prv:
Balad Ruz:
#1: A suspected al-Qaeda armed group killed a Sahwa fighter on Wednesday in south of Baaquba city, according to a police source. “An armed group believed to belong to al-Qaeda network on Wednesday (Feb. 11) attacked the house of a Sahwa fighter in al-Abara region in Bahraz, south of Baaquba, and showered him with bullets,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Buhriz:
#1: Gunmen stormed a police officer's house in southern Buhriz, 60 km (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, killing a two men guarding the home, police said. As police responded to the shooting, they were struck by a roadside bomb, which killed a policeman and wounded another.

Around 2 a.m. gunmen attacked with the machineguns the house of Captain Sallal al Timimi, an officer in Buhruz police station in south of Baquba city. One of the guards of al Timimi was killed in the attack. When the police patrols came to the area, a roadside bomb detonated killing one policeman.


Hilla:
#1: Two policemen were killed and three others were wounded on Wednesday when a roadside bomb went off at al-Askandariya district, north of Hilla city, said a source from the Babel police. “The bomb was planted at the main street of Hiteen residential compound of al-Askandariya district, 50 km north of Hilla,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The bomb targeted a convoy of Babel protection contingent,” he added.


Nesseriya:
#1: Police forces defused a heavy and highly explosive roadside bomb that was planted near a school in southern Nasseriya city, according to a release posted on the internet on Wednesday. “The explosive device consisted of mid-size oxygen tank with 750 gm of the C4 very explosive material inside it, linked to a trigger,” the release said. “The bomb that was planted near al-Kindi school in al-Iskan al-Sinaee neighborhood, southern Nasseriya, was removed without any casualties,” it added.


Tikrit:
#1: Three U.S. soldiers were wounded on Wednesday in Tikrit by unknown gunmen, said a police source. “Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday morning (Feb. 11) attacked a U.S. patrol of three vehicles on the main street in central Tikrit using hand grenades,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The attackers injured three U.S. soldiers and damaged a Hummer,” he also said.


Kirkuk:
#1: An Iraqi footballer was shot dead by an unknown assailant on Tuesday as he waited for a taxi to take him to his club, officials revealed. Ahmed Shallal, a 24-year-old player with Ath-Thawra Sport Club, was killed in Kirkuk, 255 kilometres north of the capital, Baghdad. "He was trying to rent a taxi near his house and an unknown person, accompanied by one or two others in a car shot him," said Sarhad Qadir, a senior police officer.

#2: “An explosive device went off on Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 11) on al-Kournish street near the Kirkuk games city in southern Kirkuk, targeting a police vehicle patrol without casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A policeman and a civilian were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in southern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: An improvised explosive device went off on Wednesday targeting the commander of al-Hamadaniya emergency police, a police source said, noting that the explosion left no casualties. “The explosion took place in Blawat region near al-Hamadaniya district in east of Mosul and caused no casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

One civilian was killed in Hamdaniyah area north Mosul city by a roadside bomb that targeted the convoy of the commander of Hamdaniyah emergency battalion.

#3: An Iraqi army soldier was killed and three persons were wounded on Wednesday in a suicide car bomb explosion in northern Mosul, a security source said. “A suicide bomber blew up a car rigged with explosives on Wednesday (Feb. 11) targeting a joint patrol of Iraqi and U.S. troops in al-Hadbaa neighborhood in northern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast killed an Iraqi soldier and injured three people, including another soldier,” he added.

At least one Iraqi soldier was killed and five people were injured in a suicide car bomb attack targeted a joint U.S. and Iraqi Army patrol in the volatile city of Mosul, a well-informed local police source said. "A suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a joint U.S. and Iraqi Army patrol in the Hadbaa neighborhood in northern Mosul, " the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The powerful blast resulted in the killing of an Iraqi soldier and the wounding of two others, along with wounding three bystanders, the source said. The source could not say whether the U.S. soldiers sustained any casualty as the troops sealed off the area preventing Iraqi security forces from approaching the scene. U.S. helicopters could be seen flying overhead, the source said.

#4: “The Azadi police managed to detonate a sticky bomb in Masli region in northern Mosul,” he added.

#5: Police found one unidentified body in Faisaliyah neighborhood in Mosul.

#6: One civilian was injured when a roadside bomb detonated in Mansour neighborhood south Mosul on Wednesday afternoon.

#7: A traffic police was injured when an insurgent threw a grenade targeting a police car in downtown Mosul on Wednesday afternoon.

A civilian was wounded when a militant threw a hand grenade at a police patrol in central Mosul, police said.

#8: Three policemen were killed when gunmen attacked their patrol in eastern Mosul, a source from Ninewa police said on Wednesday. “The armed men opened fire on the policemen’s patrol in al-Dargazliya neighborhood, eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The gunmen were walking when they opened fire on the stationed police patrol, killing three of the patrol’s personnel,” he said. The source pointed out that the armed men were able to escape after launching the attack.

#9: An Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) leader on Wednesday was killed by unknown gunmen in western Mosul, according to a local police source. “On Wednesday evening, unidentified gunmen assassinated Ahmed Fathi al-Jabouri, an IIP leader, in al-Islah al-Ziraie area, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Jabouri was shot down while leaving al-Abadi mosque after performing the al-Maghrib (sunset) prayers. The gunmen shot him in the head before fleeing the scene,” the source added.


Al Anbar Prv:
Fallujah:
#1: The morgue in Anbar on Wednesday received the body of a university professor, who was shot down near Falluja, according to a local medic. “The body belongs to Izz al-Din Khalaf Ayyoub, a psychology professor in Anbar University,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Ayyoub was shot down by unknown gunmen while he was leaving his house in al-Kartan area, al-Khalidiya district, on his way to the university,” the source explained.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A bomb killed a secular lawmaker and wounded six other people Wednesday in a Pakistani city close to the Afghan border increasingly under attack by Islamist militants. The bombing in Peshawar in northwest Pakistan took place as U.S. envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke visited the city, local TV reports said. Police said it appeared the bomb was hidden in a motorcycle and was detonated by remote control when a vehicle carrying Awami National Party lawmaker Alam Zeb Khan passed by. The lawmaker, his body guard and two of his staff were hit by the blast along with three passers-by, said police officer Hamid Khan. The lawmaker later died at a hospital, said Wajid Ali Khan, a minister in the provincial government.

AFP: Taliban assaults on government kill 26 in Kabul:

#2-#3: Taliban fighters, carrying assault rifles and wearing suicide vests, stormed the Justice Ministry and another government building in Afghanistan's capital Wednesday, forcing workers to flee from windows, according to government officials and a Taliban spokesman. Nineteen people were killed in the assault. Eight assailants also died in the attacks, said Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, bringing to 27 the total deaths. Azimi said all eight attackers had suicide vests, but only three assailants set them off.

#2: Five men armed with assault rifles and grenades attacked the Justice Ministry in late morning - and they appeared to control it for at least a short period. But by midday, about two hours after the attacks began, Afghan security forces waved from windows in an apparent all-clear sign, according to an AP reporter on the scene. All five attackers were killed in a shootout with security forces.

#3: Another two men blew themselves up at the ministry's correction department in northern Kabul, Azimi said.

#4: In a third incident near the Education Ministry, police shot dead another attacker, said police officer Zulmay Khan. No one else was reported to have been killed at that scene and it was unclear if he was targeting the Education Ministry, which is very close to the Justice Ministry.

#5: Taliban militants fired a mortar bomb that hit a house in the Bajaur region near the Afghan border, killing a boy and wounding three women, a government official said.

#6: Two roadside bomb blasts claimed the lives of over a dozen guards of a local road construction firm in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province on Wednesday. "The tragedy occurred on a road between Helmand's provincial capital Lashkargah and Marja district when two mines planted by militants struck two vehicles of the company killing 14 guards, all Afghans," a police officer in Lashkargah told Xinhua but refused to be identified.