War News for Friday, July 17, 2009

MNF-Iraq is reporting the deaths of three Multi-National Division - South soldier in an indirect fire attack at Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq on Thursday, July 16th.

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier in an IED attack near Gereshk, Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Thursday, July 16th.

The Canadian DND/CF is reporting the death of a Canadian ISAF soldier in an undisclosed attack in the Panjwayi District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan on Thursday, July 16th.


July 15 airpower summary:

Tajikistan military kill gunmen near Afghan border:

RAF helicopter built using half of chinook captured in Falklands:

Fort Hood Soldier Refuses Deployment to Afghanistan:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: In Baghdad, a bomb planted under a bridge killed a married couple who were among hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims heading to a holy shrine. The bomb, which exploded around 2:30 a.m. Friday, was planted beneath a bridge in eastern Baghdad. Twelve others were wounded, according to police and medical officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the media.

#2: An anti-bomb squad personnel on Thursday defused an improvised explosive device (IED) in eastern Baghdad, an Iraqi police source said.

#3: A roadside bomb wounded four Shi'ite pilgrims near Baghdad's southern district of Doura, police said. The pilgrims were heading to the Imam Moussa al-Kadhim shrine in north Baghdad.

#4: A roadside bomb targeted pilgrims in Bayaa neighbourhood, southwestern Baghdad, wounding five pilgrims.

#5: A roadside bomb targeted civilians near a billiard parlour in Amil neighbourhood, southeastern Baghdad, wounding two young men.


Basra:
#1: Three Multinational forces were wounded in a Katyusha attack on Thursday night that targeted a military base of the MNF at the Basra international airport, a security source said Friday. “Four Katyusha rockets hit the military base of the MNF at the Basra international airport on Thursday night (July 16), injuring three soldiers,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: A civilian was wounded in an attack by a hand grenade on a Multi-National Force patrol in southwestern Kirkuk, a source from the joint coordination center said. “A MNF patrol was attacked by a hand grenade on Thursday (July 16) in al-Saray neighborhood in al-Huwaiyja, southwestern Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Gunmen in a car wounded a civilian when they opened fire on people in a village southeast of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#3: Gunmen wounded a civilian when they shot at him on Thursday in central Kirkuk, police said.


Shirqat:
#1: A bomb attached to a police car wounded a policeman in the town of Shirqat, 300 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: A policeman was wounded in an improvised explosive device blast in Mosul city on Thursday, a local security source in Ninewa said. “A sticky IED attached to the vehicle of a policeman working in the protection of of the Ninewa police director general went off in Sadeera village, al-Shurqat district, south of Mosul, leaving him wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Tal Afar:
#1: An explosive charge went off in northern Talafar but left no casualties, a source from the district’s police said Thursday. “The charge was left in an uninhabited part of al-Nasser neighborhood, northern Talafar (60 km) west of Mosul city,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: In Karmah, two bombs exploded around 3 a.m. Friday near the house of police Capt. Bahjat Khawam. The bombs were planted under the police officer's car and near a gate to his house. The police officer's 12-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old granddaughter were killed in the attack. Khawam, who works in Karmah police station, and other six family members were wounded.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: government official says militants launched two attacks on oil tankers in northwest Pakistan carrying fuel supplies to NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan. One bystander has been killed. Local official Rashed Khan says one attack took place in Jamrud in the Khyber region on Friday when a roadside bomb hit one truck and set it ablaze. The second incident took place in Landi Kotal also in the Khyber region. Khan says a bomb set on a timer exploded as an oil tanker drove by damaging the truck.

#2: A roadside bomb tore through a vehicle in southern Afghanistan on Friday, killing 11 civilians, ncluding five children, a border police official said. A British solider died in another explosion. The bomb exploded in Kandahar province's Spin Boldak district as the civilians were traveling toward

#3: Afghan and foreign forces killed 11 Taliban insurgents during a joint operation and air strikes in the Waze Zadran district of southeastern Paktika province overnight, district chief Abdul Wali Zadran and NATO officials said.

#4: A suspected U.S. missile strike in a Pakistani tribal region killed at least five alleged militants Friday, officials said, showing America's unwillingness to abandon the tactic even as Pakistani officials say it could interfere with army offensives in the northwest. The missile strike hit a house in Gariwam village in North Waziristan, said two intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media on the record.
Local government official Anayat Ullah also confirmed a missile had hit the village, while resident Ahmad Raza said he heard Taliban in the area saying five of their comrades were dead.


Casualty Reports:

Royal Air Force senior aircraftsman Michael Goody, 24, almost lost his leg when his convoy was blown up in Afghanistan. He was half-way through his first seven month tour of Afghanistan when he was hit by the homemade bomb, in October. "The force of the blast overturned the vehicle we were in, and I was trapped underneath it for three hours. "The whole of the lower part of my left leg was shattered: it was like washing powder."

Marine Sgt. Kyle Shanley, 25, was thrown from the turret of his unit’s transport vehicle when it triggered an improvised explosive device Friday while attempting to evacuate previously injured Marines in Helmand Province, his mother, Carin, said Thursday. “His jawbone was fractured, and his cheekbone was crushed. I guess right now he has a black eye, of course. They say he looks like the one side of his face is shrunken in. He is being flown today to the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland, where his family will meet him and doctors will discuss the reconstructive surgery he will receive. Four of the six Marines in Shanley’s vehicle were injured, Carin said.

Marine Joshua J. Bouchard, 26, suffered a devastating injury to his lower back when an improvised explosive device went off near his position at the head of a convoy in southern Afghanistan. Members of his family arrived Monday at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany in time to see Joshua as he came out of surgery, according to the Marine's sister, Irene Bouchard, of Amherst. Bouchard lost his left leg below the knee, broke his right arm and received shrapnel in his right leg and left arm, Irene Bouchard said.
The attack July 8 killed two Marines with Bouchard's unit, the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, and injured three, including Bouchard.