War News for Monday, March 02, 2009

Feb. 28 air power summary:

Feb. 27 airpower summary:

Feb. 26 airpower summary:

Iraq's Chemical Ali given third death sentence:

Logistics of leaving Iraq begin to take shape:

Blackwater founder steps down as CEO:

From a Fortified Base, a Different View of Afghanistan:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Explosions heard on Monday morning in al-Adhamiya neighborhood, northern Baghdad, were caused by seized explosive devices, according to a senior official source. “Security forces in al-Adhamiya sector gathered explosive devices that had been seized and then detonated them without causing any casualties or damages,” an official spokesperson for Baghdad’s Operations Command (BOC), General Qassim Atta, said in a release that was received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
Balad Ruz:
#1: Five Iraqi soldiers on Monday were killed or wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in Baaquba city, according to a local security source. “Today, an explosive charge detonated in 30 Tammuz area, southern Balad Ruz district (45 km southwest of Baaquba), targeting an Iraqi army patrol vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Two servicemen were killed and three others were wounded in the blast,” the source explained.


Kirkuk:
#1: Unknown gunmen wounded the son of Kirkuk’s al-Dibiss mayor, a source from the city’s police said on Monday. “The incident occurred at 09:00 a.m. in Namra neighborhood, downtown al-Dibiss suburb,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“Driving a civilian car, the gunmen opened fire on the mayor’s son,” he said.


Mosul:
#1: A sticky improvised explosive device attached to a civilian vehicle went off near the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) local committee headquarters in Mosul city on Monday, a committee source said. The IED went off about 50 meters away from the KDP local committee headquarters in al-Faisaliya neighborhood, eastern Mosul, but left no casualties," the source told Aswat al-Iraq. "The explosion caused damage to nearby stores," the source added.

#2: Three civilians on Monday were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in downtown Mosul city, according to a security source. “Last night (March. 1), three civilians were slightly wounded when an explosive charge detonated near a police patrol vehicle in Bab al-Jadeed area, downtown Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The wounded were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the source added.

#3: A roadside bomb targeted an army patrol in Tameem neighborhood in eastern Mosul on Sunday. One soldier was killed and two others were wounded.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Militants fighting Afghan government have set on fire eight trucks of road construction company in Farah province west of Afghanistan, a press release of Interior Ministry said here Monday. "The rebels attacked a road construction company in Lash join district on Sunday and after setting ablaze eight dump trucks on the spot took away two cars along with two employees of the company," the press release added. One of the two employees kidnapped by the militants, according to the press release, is driver and the other is chef.

#2: Two Tajik antidrug officers have been killed and three Tajik border guards injured near the Tajik-Afghan border. Local officials told RFE/RL's Tajik Service that some 30 gunmen attacked the border crossing at Sari Ghor in the Dashti Jam area of the southern Khatlon Province bordering Afghanistan on the night of February 27, killing the officers and injuring the Tajik border guards.

#3: A suicide blast ripped through an Islamic seminary in Pakistan's south-western province of Balochistan on Monday, killing four people and injuring more than five others, media reports said. The bomber struck soon after the regional chief of an Islamic party concluded his address at the seminary in Pishin district, located some 60 kilomtres north of provincial capital Quetta.
Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani, the provincial head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam escaped the explosion, Urdu-language Express News television channel reported. The bomber blew himself when he was stopped by security guards from entering a buidling where Sherani was meeting his aides.

#4: A paramilitary commander and his four body guards were kidnapped Sunday in the northwestern Pakistani district of Swat, according to local TV reports. Ahsam-ud-din and his body guards were kidnapped on their way to Mingora, a major city in the restive Swat valley of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Head of the peace committee Inam ur Rehman said that efforts were being made for their release.

#5: A convoy of security forces came under attack Sunday in Swat and a security personnel was injured in the incident.