War News for Tuesday, April 07, 2009

The Netherlands Military is reporting the death of a Dutch ISAF soldier during an indirect fire attack on Camp Holland, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan on Monday, April 6th. Five additional Dutch soldiers and two Afghan soldiers were wounded in the attack. Here is the NATO release.

The Romanian MoD is reporting the death of a Romanian ISAF soldier in an IED strike 20 km. north east of Qalat, Zubul Province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, April 7th. Four additional soldiers were wounded in the attack. Here is the NATO release.

April 4 airpower summary:

Iraq invites bids to drill 20 oil wells in south, ML:

For refugees, could Afghanistan be worse:

Pakistan rules out foreign troops in war against terror:

iraq's crumbling schools:

Jury selection in Iraq rape case:

Flow on Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline resumes on Monday:

More Drone Attacks in Pakistan Planned: (NY Times and well worth reading.-- whisker)

Report Calls CIA Detainee Treatment 'Inhuman'

Sentence of Bush shoe thrower reduced to one year in prison:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A car bomb killed nine people and wounded 18 in the Shi'ite Kadhimiya district of northwest Baghdad on Tuesday, police said. Police said the number of casualties from the attack, near one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrines, was preliminary and could rise.

#2: Monday A roadside bomb detonated in Athemiyah neighborhood in north Baghdad at 5 p.m. Three civilians were injured.

#3: Gunmen threw a hand grenade at a grocery store in New Baghdad, eastern Baghdad at 8 a.m. Tuesday. The store burned down but there were no human casualties.

#4: A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol in Zafaraniyah, southeastern Baghdad at 9 a.m. No casualties were reported.


Iskandariya:
#1: Iraqi army forces on Tuesday found a body of a Sahwa council member in northern Babel province, according to a local police source. “Today, army personnel found a corpse belonging to a Sahwa fighter in a village in al-Iskandriya district (50 km north of Hilla),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The body bore signs of torture and gunshot wounds,” the source added.


Mosul:
#1: The leader of an Arab tribe in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul has been fatally shot, police reported. Police sources said unknown gunmen killed Shaikh Farhan Falah Mohammed Yunis on Monday night in the district of 17 Tamuz, west of Mosul, in Iraq’s ethnically divided Nineveh province. Shaikh Farahan was the leader of a local Arab tribe and an important politician with the Hadba List, the Arab nationalist coalition that won January’s provincial council elections in Nineveh on a platform of taking control of the province from Kurdish parties.

#2: U.S. forces killed a civilian during a raid in southern Mosul, a police source said on Monday. “U.S. forces on Sunday night (April 5) killed a civilian when they raided his house in Wadi Hajar region in southern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He gave no further details.

#3: Unknown gunmen killed a leader of al-Hadbaa list on Monday in western Mosul, a security source said. “Unknown gunmen on Monday night (April 6) killed Falah Mohamed Younis al-Farahat, a leader of al-Hadbaa list and the chief of al-Farahat tribe, in Talafar district in west of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “They showered him with bullets in front of his house in 17 Tmouz neighborhood in western Mosul,” he added.

#4: A civilian was killed and two more were wounded in clashes that broke out between gunmen and police forces in western Mosul, a police source said. “Fierce clashes flared up on Monday (April 6) in al-Shefaa neighborhood in western Mosul between gunmen and police forces, during which a passing civilian was killed and two others were wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding no more details.

#5: U.S. forces have killed one gunman and arrested five others during raids in southern Mosul, a media advisor for the forces said on Tuesday. “On Sunday evening, U.S. forces killed a gunman in Wadi Hajar area, southern Mosul, during a raid that targeted a suicide bombing cell,” the advisor told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “In light of intelligence tips, the forces surrounded a house and ordered those inside to come out,” he explained. “One of the gunmen escaped over the roofs of adjoining houses, forcing U.S. forces to shoot him and kill him instantly,” he added.

#6: A morgue in Mosul on Tuesday received an unknown body from U.S. forces in the city, according to a local medic. “The body, which belongs to a 35-year-old man, bore signs of gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen,” the medic told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

The U.S. military killed an Iraqi civilian by mistake in Wadi Hajar, to the south of Mosul, Iraqi police said. The U.S. military did not confirm the incident.


Al Anbar Prv:
Garma:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted the motorcade of Abu Qutaiba, a high ranking member in the Support Councils (tribal security councils formed by PM al Maliki) in Garma, southern Fallujah at 3.30 p.m. Tuesday. Abu Qutaiba survived the assassination attempt, which was not the first, but was severely injured. The explosion also killed one policeman and injured four policemen and four civilians.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Two Taliban insurgents were killed in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province, a senior police officer Abdul Rahman Haqtash said Tuesday. "The insurgents raided a police checkpoint in Qalai Zal district Monday night and police returned fire leaving two Taliban rebels dead," Haqtash told Xinhua.

#2: Police in north-western Pakistan say they have found the bodies of three local female aid workers and their male driver, all with gunshot wounds. They were kidnapped and killed after they left Mansehra town to inspect a school for possible funding by the American development agency, USAID. Police said the women worked for a USAID partner organisation, the National Rural Support Programme.

#3: U.S. forces killed four militants and detained two others during a Monday raid on a building used by Taliban in Maywand district, about 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Kabul, the U.S. military said in a statement.

#4: Afghan and U.S. forces killed two militants in Tirin Kot district, about 380 km (240 miles) southwest of Kabul on Monday, the U.S. military said in a separate statement.

#5: Two Taliban insurgents were killed in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province, a senior police officer Abdul Rahman Haqtash said Tuesday. "The insurgents raided a police checkpoint in Qalai Zal district Monday night and police returned fire leaving two Taliban rebels dead," Haqtash told Xinhua.


Casualty Reports:

Marine, First Lieutenant Andrew Kinard lost both of his legs in 2006 while serving in Iraq.

Sergeant First Class, Kevin Dupont, 52, is recovering from severe burns after his vehicle is attacked in Afghanistan. But then 3-8-09. A day that the Dupont family will never forget. "His vehicle was hit with the explosion and there was some damage to the vehicle and he fought to get out," Christopher says. It was a battle Kevin won. Surviving, but with burns over 65 percent of his body. Kevin, now in a coma, is at a San Antonio hospital undergoing various surgeries and skin grafts. The road to recovery will be a long one. Doctors say Kevin will likely be in the Texas hospital for at least three more years.

Pfc. Andrew J. Parker, 21, suffered spinal cord injuries when he was struck by a roadside bomb explosion while driving a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle on patrol with his unit near the southern city of Kandahar on Nov. 20.