War News for Wednesday, April 22, 2009

April 20 airpower summary:

Hackers stole data on Pentagon's newest fighter jet:

Taliban claims victory near Islamabad:

UN to release report on disputed Iraqi territories:

Iraq Seeks Bidders to Restart Syria Oil Pipeline:

Mechanics at War in Afghanistan (With Attack Chopper Photo Gallery!)

Under the Cover of War against Terrorism:

Judge to hear challenge in Iraq war suit: (I wish this was a more detailed article...whisker)

Pentagon Commander Visits Afghanistan:

Harsh Tactics Readied Before Their Approval:

Army officer: Report cites Abu Ghraib 'scapegoats'


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A bomb on Tuesday killed a policeman and wounded three others when it struck their patrol in the Amiriya district of western Baghdad, police said.

Around 10 p.m. a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol on the bridge that connects the neighborhoods of Ameriyah and Amil in western Baghdad on Tuesday. One policeman was killed and three others were wounded.

#2: Around 10:15 p.m. a roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi army patrol in Medain in southern Baghdad on Tuesday. Three soldiers were wounded.


Diwaniya:
#1: The spokesman for the U.S. army on Wednesday said that four missiles fell near the U.S. Echo camp in Diwaniya, without leaving casualties. “The four missiles caused no casualties or material damage,” al-Muqdad Jebreel told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. For his side, the commander of the 8th division of the Iraqi army in Diwaniya, Othman al-Ghanemi, said that three Katyusha rockets landed on Wednesday (April 22) on Umm Sabaji village in north of Diwaniya, without casualties.


Kirkuk:
#1: Gunmen in a car kidnapped a judge while he was heading to his office in southwestern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police brigadier general Sarhat Qader said.

#2: A sticky bomb went off on Tuesday targeting an Iraqi army vehicle in central Kirkuk, without leaving casualties, a senior police officer said. “An explosive charge, stuck to an Iraqi military vehicle, went off in al-Atebaa street in central Kirkuk, setting the vehicle ablaze,” Colonel Ahmad Shmerani told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Gunmen killed engineer Tariq Mustafa, an employee of Kirkuk municipality during an attempt to kidnap him in central Kirkuk.


Mosul:
#1: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in a crowded market wounded eight people, including a policeman, in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A Kurdish Peshmerga leader escaped death when a bomb in a parked car exploded near his convoy in the small town of Zummar, northwest of Mosul, police said. No casualties were reported.

#3: Also in Zummar, a suicide car bomber attacked a security checkpoint run by Kurdish Peshmerga forces. Police sources in Mosul said one of the Kurdish soldiers opened fire at the car and it detonated before reaching its target.

#4: A suicide car bomber on Tuesday attacked a military checkpoint and seriously wounded two soldiers in eastern Mosul, police said.

#5: Unknown gunmen on Tuesday killed a butcher in western Mosul city, according to a security source. “Unidentified gunmen on Tuesday (April 21) killed a butcher inside his store in al-Nehrawan neighborhood in western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The gunmen stormed the store and shot him in his head,” he added, before fleeing to unknown place.

#6: U.S. forces ran over a civilian and left him wounded in Mosul, a security source said on Tuesday. “A civilian was wounded on Tuesday (April 21) when U.S. forces ran over him in al-Baath neighborhood in eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The forces left him in the accident scene, but the Iraqi army forces carried him to a nearby hospital for treatment,” he added.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: The official spokesman for the chieftains council in Anbar was wounded in a bomb explosion in northern Anbar, a police source said. “An explosive charge, stuck to the vehicle of Sheikh Zein Aagami, the official spokesman for the chieftains council in Anbar, went off while he was on his way back to his house in Albu Abeid village in northern Anbar,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast wounded the sheikh and two of his bodyguards and damaged the vehicle,” he added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A Coalition helicopter conducted an emergency landing due a mechanical failure in the Tirzaye District of Khowst province earlier this afternoon. All crew members are safe and accounted for. The landing site has been secured by ground forces pending the recovery of the helicopter.

#2: The combined force was searching residential compounds in Kunar province when a man armed with an assault rifle refused to surrender and threatened the troops, the U.S. said in a statement. He was killed and six men with suspected ties to al-Qaida were captured, the statement said. The incident occurred in Pech district, northeast of the provincial capital of Jalalabad. The statement said the troops were searching the compounds for a “key enabler” of al-Qaida operatives in the province. It did not say if the target was killed or captured.

#3: Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said a civilian truck driver was shot and killed by militants in Ghazni province Tuesday. The victim was transporting commercial merchandise and resisted attempts by the militants to loot his vehicle, the ministry said.

#4: Aircraft bombed suspected militant hideouts in the Orakzai tribal region and it is believed there were some casualties, said government official Yasin Khan. Resident Ajab Khan said five militants were killed and 10 wounded.

#5: Unknown men threw a grenade at a house in the northwestern town of Hangu, killing one inhabitant and wounding two. One of the attackers was also killed in the blast, said police official Amal Khan said.

#6: Atif-ur-Rehman, a senior government official in Dir district, bordering the Swat region, and his driver and two guards were kidnapped by unknown men late on Tuesday, said the area's top administrator Syed Mohammad Javed.

#7: Taliban militants handed over the body of a government official, Arshad Ali, they kidnapped and killed four days ago in the Mohmand tribal region on the Afghan border, residents and a government official said


Casualty Reports:

Sgt. Maurice Craft, a 82nd Airborne soldier lost one leg and part of another in a bomb blast in Iraq in 2003.

Russell Skoug on September 11, 2006 an Improvised Explosive Device would change Russell Skoug's life forever. "When [the] IED blew up and [came] through the truck, that coin was sitting in this side leg," he said. His angel coin was bent from the shrapnel, sparing his leg from even more injury. Loaded onto a cot he recalls his flight from Iraq to Germany. Some of the wounds on his body may heal with time, but he said, "The ringing in the ears is going to be there forever."