War News for Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Marine Staff Sgt. Archie A. Taylor died in a non-hostile incident in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday, March 14th.


Taliban: Attacks to continue till coalition troops’ pull out:

US mulling drone raids expansion to Balochistan:

U.S. Weighs Taliban Strike Into Pakistan:

Iraq issues tender to drill 30 oil wells in south:

Medvedev Pushes Plan to Remake Russian Military:

Two soldiers killed in clash with separatist rebels in S Philippines:

Five killed in S. Philippines clash between troops and kidnappers:

KBR keeps witness info concealed, lawyer says:

Poland likely to increase force in Afghanistan:

Two thirds of British Armys Apache attack helicopters unusable:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A Katyusha missile hit al Arasat residential district, Karrada, central Baghdad at 12.30 a.m. Wednesday injuring one woman and causing material damage to the house.

#2: A roadside bomb exploded in Aden Square, Hurriyah neighbourhood, northwestern Baghdad at 10 p.m. Tuesday injuring three civilians.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Police found two dead bodies for two young men of 16 and 18 years in a deserted area in AlUthaim(north of Baquba) in Diyala province and few miles east of Dhuluiyah (south of Tikrit and 60 miles north of Baghdad), the place where the two young men were kidnapped in three days ago.

Baquba:
#1: A civilian was killed and three others were wounded in a bomb explosion in central Baaquba, a security source said. “An improvised explosive device went off on Wednesday afternoon (Mar. 18) in a popular marketplace in al-Mafraq neighborhood in central Baaquba, killing a civilian and injuring three,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: One civilian was killed when a sticky bomb stuck to his car blew up in al Mafraq area, central Baquba at 1.15 p.m. Thursday.

Sadiya:
#1: A police officer says a man and his wife were killed while working in their orchard in the Diyala province town of Sadiya. Police believe the bomb wasn't targeting the couple but was left behind by insurgents who long controlled the area.


Basra:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted a U.S. military convoy near al Gzaiza Bridge, northern Basra at around 5 p.m. Tuesday. No comment was available from the U.S. military at time of publication.


Kirkuk:
#1: A bomb wounded three people in central Kirkuk, 255 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

A roadside bomb went off targeting a provincial headquarters of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), central Kirkuk, wounding three civilians, said a police commander from the city. “The explosive charge was planted near the headquarters,” Colonel Ahmed Smerani told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Security officials also say suicide car bomb struck a patrol, killing a policeman and wounding two others in the northern city of Mosul.

A suicide car bombing killed a policeman and wounded three others in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Wednesday, a local police source said. "A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a police patrol shortly after midday in the al-Nabi-Younis neighborhood in eastern Mosul, killing a policeman and wounding three others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. A civilian was also wounded by the powerful blast which badly damaged a police vehicle, the source said.

#2: A student in Management and Administration College in Mosul University was shot dead by unknown gunmen in a southwestern neighborhood of the capital city of Nineveh province, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#3: An Iraqi soldier was also shot dead in the day when unknown gunmen open fire on an Iraqi army checkpoint in Almuharibin neighborhood in eastern Mosul, the source said.

#4: Separately, the Iraqi police shot dead an insurgent in al Mansur neighborhood in southern Mosul after he threw a grenade at a police patrol.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Two men on a motorcycle threw a bomb at a truck carrying an excavating machine to NATO troops in Afghanistan, halting traffic Wednesday along a supply route through Pakistan's southwest, officials said. No one was injured in the blast near the Pakistani frontier town of Chaman, but the machine was damaged, area police chief Gul Mohammed said. Wednesday's attack happened as the driver awaited security clearance to cross into Afghanistan, Mohammed said. Police closed the crossing and began searching other vehicles, he said. The route was expected to reopen later Wednesday.

#2: Meanwhile in the northwest, dozens of assailants opened fire at a university, killing three police officers and a security guard. A top official said the Taliban later detained some of the gunmen.

#3: Three civilians were wounded in a bomb attack in the west of the capital, Kabul, the Interior Ministry said.

A roadside bomb struck a civilian vehicle in the Afghan capital on Wednesday wounding three people, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The bomb went off as the vehicle passed a gas station in western Kabul, it said, without providing further details. The blast coincided with a visit to Afghanistan by Nato's North Atlantic Council, the military alliance's top decision-making body.


Casualty Reports:

Canadian Master Cpl. Jody Mitic, 32, stepped on a landmine in the early morning hours of Jan. 11, 2007, there was a loud flash, like that of a firecracker. Mitic says his right leg was "pretty much gone" from the initial impact of the landmine. But it was only after waking up following surgery that he learned doctors weren't able to save the left one either. Both were amputated below the knee.