War News for Tuesday, June 30, 2009

MNF-Iraq is reporting the deaths of four Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier from combat related injuries in an undisclosed neighborhood of Baghdad on Monday, June 29th. No other details were released.

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier from combat related injuries in an undisclosed neighborhood of Baghdad on Sunday, June 28th.

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Pfc. Peter K. Cross died in a vehicle accident Combat Outpost Carlyle, Afghanistan on Friday, June 26th.

The DoD is reporting another new death. Pvt. Steven T. Drees died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany on Sunday, June 28th. He was origionally injured by small arms fire/shot in the head in an undisclosed location in Konar Province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, June 24th.


Five years of Moon of Alabama - Time to close it down


June 26 airpower summary:

June 27 airpower summary:

In a Coup in Honduras, Ghosts of Past U.S. Policies:

Wikipedia Censored News of Afghanistan Kidnapping:

Coalition Terms Kandahar Incident an Afghan Clash:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Iraq’s Electricity Grid Protection Force on Tuesday dismantled a rocket launch base in the capital Baghdad, foiling an attempt to target an electricity station, according to an official spokesperson for the Ministry of Electricity. The rockets were directed at the natural gas-powered electricity station of al-Quds in northeastern Baghdad, Spokesperson Aziz al-Shamri told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two roadside bombs targeted civilians in Mechanic neighbourhood in Doura, southern Baghdad at 1 p.m. Tuesday injuring four civilians.


Diyala Prv:
Khalis:
#1: Police forces on Monday arrested a gunman while attempting to attach a sticky bomb to a civilian vehicle north of Baaquba city, Diala’s police commander said Monday. “The arrest took place in al-Khaliss suburb, 15 km north of Baaquba,” General Abdilhussein al-Shemmary told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Experts were able to defuse the charge,” he said.


Amarra:
#1: Bomb squad experts on Tuesday defused a car bomb in Missan province, according to a local security source. “The car with rigged with a large amount of explosives and parked near al-Hasnawi gas station (5 km south of Amara city),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Shurqat:
#1: Two persons, including a serviceman, on Tuesday were killed when a group of gunmen attacked their vehicle in Salah al-Din province, according to a local police source. “This morning, unknown gunmen attacked a civilian vehicle carrying two persons, including a military serviceman, in downtown al-Shurqat district, killing them on the spot,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: A roadside improvised explosive device (IED) on Tuesday was defused in southwestern Kirkuk, according to a source from the joint coordination center. “During an early hour this morning, a Multi-National Force (MNF) patrol vehicle found an explosive device on al-Matar St. near Tikrit square,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Iraqi police forces have managed to defuse the device, the source noted, adding that no damage was reported.

#2: Twenty-six people were killed and 56 wounded in a car bomb in Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, a high-ranking police official told AFP.

A car bomb in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk killed at least 25 people on Tuesday, just after U.S. troops handed over full control of Iraq's cities to the domestic security forces six years after the invasion. The bomb, which wounded at least 40 people, struck a busy market in a largely Kurdish part of Kirkuk, a city viewed as a potential flashpoint between the Shi'ite Arab-led central government and Kurds. Police said the death toll could rise.

Mosul:
#1: An Iraqi army force killed a gunman on Tuesday in western Mosul, a source from Ninewa’s operations command said. “Iraqi army forces on Tuesday killed a gunman on Tuesday (June 30) while attempting to open fire on a soldier at a checkpoint in al-Islah al-Zeraai neighborhood in western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The gunman was in possession of a gun of a former policeman who had been killed by gunmen,” he noted.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide bomber dressed as a woman killed at least one person, identified as a child, and wounded eight in an attack on an Afghanistan-Pakistan border checkpoint on Tuesday, government officials and police said. Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the governor of eastern Nangarhar province, said the suicide bomber had crossed into Afghanistan from the Pakistan side of the border. Abdulzai put the death toll at two and said 10 were wounded. Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said one person, a child, was killed, and at least eight wounded. Three police officers, including a female officer who worked at the border checkpoint searching women, were among the wounded, it said in a statement.

#2: The U.S.-led coalition says airstrikes have killed over a dozen militants allegedly involved in the movement of foreign fighters into Afghanistan from Pakistan. The coalition said in a statement Tuesday that the strikes targeted insurgents linked to a militant leader Siraj Haqqani in eastern Khost province.It said the airstrikes hit a pair of bunkers on Monday night.

#3: Pakistani police say a car bombing in the country's southwest hit trucks taking supplies to Western troops in Afghanistan. Four people died in the blast. The bomb detonated on Tuesday outside a roadside restaurant in Baluchistan province. The restaurant is popular with truckers who ferry supplies to U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. Police officer Khuda Bukhsh said a wounded truck driver told him his vehicle carried the troop supplies. At least three trucks were parked when the bomb exploded.

#4: Afghan police killed 15 Taliban fighters and wounded 13 during an operation in northern Baghlan-e-Jadid district on Monday, provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Sayedkheli said. Two policemen were killed and two wounded. The operation targeted a group of Taliban who frequently attacked convoys belonging to Afghan and foreign forces, Sayedkheli said.

#5: A mortar bomb fired by security forces aimed at a militant hideout struck a house in the Khyber tribal region overnight, killing seven civilians, senior government official Azam Khan Khalil said.

#6: Army helicopter gunships targeted militant hideouts in Dattakhel village, in the North Waziristan tribal region, where pro-Taliban fighters killed 16 troops in an ambush on a military convoy on Sunday, intelligence officials said. There was no immediate word on casualties