War News for Monday, August 31, 2009

The MoD is reporting the death of an ISAF Marine in an IED attack near Gereshk, Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Saturday, August 29th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from separate IED attacks in undisclosed areas of southern Afghanistan on Monday, August 31st. We suspect both are Americans.


Cheney: I was isolated over Iran attack idea:

US general sends Afghan war review to Pentagon:

U.S. military ends journalist profiling contract:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Five people were wounded when a roadside bomb went off near a U.S. military patrol in the Rustamiyah area in southeastern Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The source could not tell whether the U.S. patrol sustained any casualties as the U.S. troops sealed off the area.

#2: In addition, four people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near the convoy of a senior official of Baghdad's municipality near the Nahdha Square in the center of the capital, the source added.

#3: A suicide car bomb struck an Iraqi army checkpoint in northern Baghdad on Sunday, killing a civilian and wounding 12 people, an Interior Ministry source said. A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the checkpoint at the Antar Square in Adhamiyah district and blew it up on Sunday afternoon, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. "Only two soldiers were among the wounded and the rest were civilians," the source said, adding that the blast badly damaged several cars at the checkpoint and caused damages to surrounding shops and buildings.


Arbil Prv:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Monday opened fire on a civilian in central Arbil, said a source from the city’s police. “The gunmen were driving an SUV with no plates,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: An improvised explosive device (IED) on Monday went off near a U.S. patrol vehilce in southern Kirkuk, causing no casualties, according to an informed source. “The blast targeted an MNF patrol on Kirkuk-Daqooq road near al-Sumoud village (35 km south of Kirkuk),” a source from the Joint Coordination Center told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The explosion caused damage to the vehicle, the source added.


Mosul:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Monday shot down an owner of a bookstore in downtown Mosul city, according to a local police source. “The incident occured this noon on al-Nujaifi St., central Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A British Chinook helicopter was deliberately destroyed by ISAF Forces at 1605 local time having sustained damage on landing approximately 10km East of Sangin at 0530 this morning, Sunday 30 August 2009. The crew and passengers were unharmed. The aircraft is believed to have suffered a 'hard landing' and sustained damage to the undercarriage, nose and front rotor which subsequently made it unflyable.

#2: Hundreds of miles (kilometers) away, a southwestern border crossing with Afghanistan reopened after an administrative dispute culminated in an attack on a line of waiting NATO fuel tankers. One driver was killed and 16 trucks destroyed when the fuel caught fire. The other bomb, near the border crossing, ripped through a line of NATO fuel trucks backed up by a two-day closure resulting from a dispute over fruit inspections. At least one driver was killed and 16 trucks destroyed on the Pakistani side of the Chaman crossing, police official Gul Mohammad said. The border crossing reopened Monday, he said.

At least 15 of the hundreds of oil tankers, trailers and containers stranded in the Chaman area of the border region caught fire Sunday night, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported. Other reports said up to two dozen vehicles may have been destroyed.

On Sunday night, at least 25 oil tankers caught fire in Chaman after a blast

#3: Pakistani soldiers killed at least 45 Taliban militants in scattered gunbattles across the northwestern Swat Valley after a suicide bombing on a police station killed 17 cadets, the army said Monday. Soldiers looking for militants after the attack encountered resistance in several areas, and battles that raged into early Monday left 30 dead, army spokesman Col. Akhtar Abbas said. Separate army statements Monday said 15 more militants were killed in security sweeps of five other areas over the previous 24 hours and two soldiers had died.

#4: Farhai also said three militants died while trying to plant a bomb on a road in Zabul's Shamolzai district.

#5: In Kandahar, meanwhile, an official says three Afghan police were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb.

#6: At least 16 police cadets died Sunday after a suicide bomber sneaked into the courtyard where they were training in Swat's main town of Mingora and detonated his explosives, local government official Atifur Rehman said. It was the deadliest attack since an army offensive ended Taliban rule there.

#7: Police say Taliban militants ambushed a supply convoy for NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, killing an Afghan guard who was escorting the trucks. Zabul province police chief Ghulam Jailani Farhai says the militants opened fire on the line of trucks on the main highway from Kandahar province into Zabul early Monday. Private security guards hired to protect the convoy fought off the attackers, but one of the guards died in the battle and four were wounded.
Farhai also said three militants died while trying to plant a bomb on a road in Zabul's Shamolzai district.

News of the Day for Sunday, August 30, 2009

An Army carry team lifts a transfer case containing the remains of Sgt. Earl Werner, 38, of Mondovi, Wisc., at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. According to the Department of Defense, Werner, died Aug. 28, in Rashid, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an explosively formed penetrator. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf) Yes, the Iraqis have it a lot worse, but here in the U.S. we seem to have completely forgotten that this is still going on. So lest we forget. -- C

Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

Bomb attack on a police patrol in eastern Baghdad misses target, kills 1 civilian and injures 4.

Second bomb attack on a patrol in southern Baghdad injures 3 people. This story says the victims were all civilians, but if it's the same attack reported by Reuters, one of the injured was a police officer.

Reuters also reports a mortar round landed in Kamaliya, killing 1 person and injuring 5. Again, is this the incident reported as a "bomb attack on a police patrol" by Aswat al-Iraq, or a separate attack? It's often difficult to sort these things out.

Mosul

Iraqi soldier injured in attack on a checkpoint.

Policeman wounded in a gun battle in western Mosul.

Sinjar (west of Mosul)

Six killed, 26 injured in car bomb attack. This is a predominantly Yazidi community. The Yazidi have been the victims of numerous such atrocities.

Baquba

Three policemen, including a lieutenant, injured in bomb attack.

Other News of the Day

A senior Interior Ministry official tells AFP that two people involved in the Aug. 19 attacks on government buildings that killed 95 people had recently been released from U.S. custody. However, some details of his story, notably where the bombs were assembled, do not match earlier claims by Iraqi officials. The U.S. says the attacks are still under investigation. In any event, for anyone who remains confused on this issue, the Iraqi government continues to blame Baathists, not Iran. -- C)

Folk hero Muntadhar al-Zeidi (that's true, it's not a commentary), who threw his shoes at George W. Bush, will be released early. "Al-Zeidi's shoes were a suitable farewell for Bush's deeds in Iraq," Sunni lawmaker Dhafir al-Ani said in welcoming the early release. "Al-Zeidi's act expressed the real will and feelings of the Iraqi people. His anger against Bush was the result of the suffering of his countrymen." The release is scheduled for Sept. 14.

Attorneys for Iraqi families suing Blackwater security tell the court that founder Erik Prince is personally responsible for murder.

Turkey, Iraq and Syria to discuss water resources in Ankara on Sept. 3. This is a brief story, but it's a very big issue. Despite changes in Saddam-era policies by the Iraqis, there is no longer enough water reaching the south to maintain the marshlands, and Iraqi agriculture is constrained as well.

VA says the law does not allow it to pay benefits to a Marine injured by smallpox vaccination. Cpl. Josef Lopez suffered a rare adverse reaction. Note: Smallpox has been eradicated from the earth, except for samples stored in 2 secure laboratories, one in the U.S. and one in Russia. The only reason troops were given these vaccinations in the first place is because of the Bush administration's lies about Saddam's non-existent biological weapons program. Just one more evil consequence of one of history's most malevolent deceits. -- C

Afghanistan Update

Two separate bomb attacks in Kandahar. One kills 3 police, another kills 3 civilians. A total of 10 are injured.

Khost provincial police chief Abdul Qayum Baqizoy claims joint Afghan-NATO forces killed 35 Taliban in a remote area near Pakistan.

Meanwhile, also according to DPA, 2 children killed and 4 people wounded by a roadside bomb in Kunduz City. A Taliban spokesman claims responsibility for the attack, but says the victims were police officers.

Karzai's lead widens as vote counting continues, creeps toward the 50% mark that would enable him to avoid a runoff.

However, allegations of fraud continue to multiply, now there are 567 deemed "serious" by the Electoral Complaints Commission.

Quotes of the Day

As the session begins, the detainee stands naked, except for a hood covering his head. Guards shackle his arms and legs, then slip a small collar around his neck. The collar will be used later; according to CIA guidelines for interrogations, it will serve as a handle for slamming the detainee's head against a wall. . . . According to the agency's interrogation plan, the nude, hooded detainee would be placed against the wall and shackled. Then the questioning would begin.

"The interrogators remove the [detainee's] hood and explain the situation to him, tell him that the interrogators will do what it takes to get important information," the document states.

If there was no response, the interrogator would use an "insult slap" to immediately "correct the detainee or provide a consequence to a detainee's response." If there was still no response, the interrogator could use an "abdominal slap" or grab the captive by his face, the memo states.

Each failure would be met with increasingly harsher tactics. After slamming a detainee's head against the plywood barrier multiple times, the interrogator could douse him with water; deprive him of toilet facilities and force him to wear a soiled diaper; or make him stand or kneel for long periods while shackled in a painful position. The captive could also be forced into a wooden box for up to 18 hours at a stretch.

Washington Post reporters Joby Warrick, Peter Finn and Julie Tate, describing a recently released CIA memo.

This government does not torture people

George W. Bush

War News for Saturday, August 29, 2009

Lawyer: Iraqi Shoe Thrower To Be Released Early:

Rare Photo of Snow Leopard in Afghanistan:

How a Detainee Became An Asset:

Iraqi: Too Many Bomb Survivors Are Dying in Hospitals:

Organized Crime in Pakistan Feeds Taliban:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: An attacker threw a grenade at an Iraqi police patrol, killing one policeman and wounding seven other people in northern Baghdad on Friday night, police said.


Shirqat:
#1: Saturday's deadliest attack came at about 8 a.m. when a suicide truck bomber attacked a small police station in the remote village of Hamad north of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people, including six police, said officials from the Iraqi army and police. Police attempted to stop the truck, opening fire and forcing the attacker to change direction and slam into a concrete barrier near a market, they said. The blast damaged the police station and a number of nearby homes and shops, the officials said. Fifteen people were also wounded in the attack, said the police official. Hamad is a primarily Sunni village that lies on the edge of Shirqat, a town between Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and Mosul, which the U.S. military considers to be the last urban stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq.


Sinjar:
#1: The second attack occurred near Mosul in the city of Sinjar, where a parked truck bomb that exploded at about 10:15 a.m. killed at least four people and wounded 23 others, another police official said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A sticky improvised explosive device (IED) has exploded in front of the house of a senior policeman in Kirkuk, according to a source from the Joint Coordination Center in the city. “On Friday (Aug. 28) evening, a sticky IED went off in front of the house of the director of the internal affairs department in al-Wassity neighborhood, southwestern Kirkuk, causing damage to a vehicle parked there,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Four soldiers were wounded by mortar rounds landing on an Iraqi army station in western Mosul, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Helicopter gunships destroyed a training camp for suicide bombers in northern Pakistan's troubled Swat Valley overnight, killing six Taliban militants, the army said Saturday. Several more militants were wounded in the camp, located on a small island in the Swat River opposite the town of Charbagh, the army said. It said the operation followed reports on the camp by intelligence agents and local residents.

#2: Abbas said another six militants were killed in two separate operations elsewhere in the Valley. In one operation, five Taliban fighters were killed, including a close aid to a high-ranking Taliban commander, Shah Doraan.

#3: Two intelligence and a government official said one militant was killed and another captured during an attack on a security checkpoint that wounded a soldier in the North Waziristan tribal region.

#4: Veteran reporter Cami McCormick is being treated at Bagram Air Base hospital for injuries received when the Army vehicle transporting her hit a roadside bomb Friday. While McCormick survived, a U.S. soldier was killed in the blast.

#5: Officials say two Afghan civilians were killed and 21 wounded when a suicide bomber detonated explosives near a group of American troops. U.S. military spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker confirms that an explosion has taken place against U.S. troops in Zabul province. She says there is no report of U.S. deaths. The top Afghan official in Zabul's Shah Joy district says a suicide bomber attacked the troops while they were walking in a market. Abdul Qayum says the blast killed two Afghans and wounded 21. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack and said the bomber was on a motorcycle.

#6: Afghan police backed by air support engaged Taliban in Farah province of western Afghanistan during which six insurgents were killed and 13 others sustained injures, police said Saturday."A group of armed Taliban fighters raided police checkpoint in Pashtrod district Friday and police encountered," provincial police chief Faqir Ahmad Askar told China's Xinhua news agency.He said the gun battle backed by international forces helicopter gunships lasted several hours, and as a result six rebels were killed.The police chief also added that 13 militants and one police constable were wounded in the firefight.

#7: Taliban insurgents have taken over parts of two northern provinces from which they were driven in 2001, threatening to disrupt NATO's new supply route from Central Asia and expand a war that has largely been confined to Afghanistan's southern half, U.S. and Afghan officials say. The insurgents now control three Pashtun-dominated districts in Kunduz and Baghlan-i-Jadid, a district in northern Baghlan province, gaining a foothold in a region that was long considered safe, local officials said. With a force estimated at 300 to 600 hard-core fighters, they operate checkpoints at night on the highway to the north, now a major supply route, and are extorting money, food and lodging from villagers.

#8: A roadside bomb killed one Afghan policeman and wounded eleven others, including six civilians, on the outskirts of Kandahar city on Friday, senior police officer Mohammad Shah Khan said.

#9: Gunmen killed one local employee of a demining agency and wounded four others in an attack on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, supervisor Farhad Noori said. Six others workers are missing.

#10: Three insurgents and one local guard were killed when Taliban fighters ambushed NATO's supply trucks in the Qara Bagh district of Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, a local police officer said

#11: A Canadian soldier is in critical but stable condition after apparently being shot with his own weapon. The incident occurred on Thursday morning in a bunker near the Canadian living quarters at the Kandahar Airfield, said Major Mario Couture of Task Force Kandahar. Other Canadian military and civilian personnel rushed to provide first aid before the wounded soldier, who had recently arrived in Afghanistan, was taken to the Canadian-led military hospital at the base.


DoD: Pfc. Matthew E. Wildes

DoD: Staff Sgt. Kurt R. Curtiss

War News for Friday, August 28, 2009

MNF-Iraq is reporting the deaths of two 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Soldiers in a roadside bombing in an eastern neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq on Friday, August 28th.

The Associated Press is reporting the death of an American ISAF soldier in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, August 28th.


Aug. 26 airpower summary:

Fear of Taliban rises in Afghanistan:

Feared Taliban grab of Kandahar would be significant blow to U.S.

US works on next-generation drones:

Abuse Issue Puts the C.I.A. and Justice Dept. at Odds:

Suicide bombing in Chechnya kills 2, wounds 6:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted an American military patrol in Ghazaliyah neighbourhood, western Baghdad, Wednesday evening. No casualties were reported.

#2: A roadside bomb targeted civilians in New Baghdad neighbourhood, eastern Baghdad at 9 p.m. Wednesday injuring one policeman and two civilians.

#3: A roadside bomb targeted civilians in Mansour neighbourhood, central Baghdad at 9.30 p.m. Wednesday injuring two civilians.


Kirkuk:
#1: Multi-National Force (MNF) soldiers shot down a gunman and wounded another while attempting to plant an improvised explosive device in southwestern Kirkuk on Thursday, a source from the city’s Joint Coordination Center said. “MNF forces were on an air reconnaissance mission when two persons were seen emplacing an IED. The soldiers opened fire at them, killing one gunman and wounding the other,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A policeman was killed and another wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast that targeted a police patrol in northern Mosul city on Thursday, a security source said. “The IED went off near a police patrol in al-Baladiyat neighborhood, northern Mosul, leaving a policeman killed and another wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A civilian man was killed and two Iraqi soldiers wounded in an improvised explosive device attack that targeted a security patrol in northern Mosul city on Thursday, a police source in Ninewa said. “The IED went off near an Iraqi army patrol in al-Mohandessin neighborhood, northern Mosul, leaving one civilian man killed and two Iraqi patrolmen wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast left minor damage to one of the patrol vehicles,” he added.

#3: Gunmen killed a man affiliated with Mosul's al-Hadba political group when he left a mosque in northern Mosul on Thursday, police said. Mostly Sunni Arab al-Hadba dominates Mosul's provincial council.

#4: Gunmen opened fire on Iraqi police and killed a girl and wounded one civilian in central Mosul on Thursday night, police said



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan and international forces killed several militants, including a woman, in northern Afghanistan after they came under fire while travelling to search a militant compound, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Friday. The woman was among the militants who engaged the joint force in Kunduz province, was armed with an automatic rifle and was wearing ammunition across her chest, the ISAF said. One civilian was wounded in Thursday's crossfire and was taken for medical treatment, it said, adding that one militant was arrested in the subsequent search of the compound.

#2: A suicide bomber attacked the main border crossing for convoys ferrying supplies to U. S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan yesterday, killing at least 19 security officers, officials said. The suicide attacker walked up to a group of border guards outside their barracks at a checkpoint in the Khyber region and detonated his explosives, local police officer Sadiq Khan said. The victims were breaking their daylong fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The border had closed for the day a few hours earlier. At least 19 people were killed and 20 wounded, according to Fazal Akbar, the head doctor at Landi Kota hospital.

#3: Taliban insurgents ambushed a convoy of Afghan counter-narcotics police, killing three and wounding 23 others on the outskirts of Ghazni city, southwest of Kabul, provincial police chief Khial Baz Sherzai said.

#4: Four Afghan police officers were killed when their military vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the eastern Ali Sher district of Khost province on Thursday, said Sher Ahmad, a district police officer.

#5: Seven militants were killed and four others arrested during ongoing search and clearance operations in northwest Pakistan in the last 24 hours, local official sources said Friday. Pakistani security forces continued search operations in various areas of Swat and Malakand in North West Frontier Province. Two militants were killed in exchange of fire and four others arrested in Swat, according to Inter Services Public Relations. At least five militants were killed in a clash between security forces and militants in Malakand, official sources said. Security forces recovered weapons and huge catch of ammunition from the militants who were foreign nationals.

DoD: Lance Cpl. Donald J. Hogan

DoD: Capt. John L. Hallett III, 30, of California.

DoD: Capt. Cory J. Jenkins, 30, of Arizona.

DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Ronald W. Sawyer, 38, of Trenton, Mo.

DoD: Pfc. Dennis M. Williams, 24, of Federal Way, Wash.

War News for Thursday, August 27, 2009

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF service personal from an IED and small arms fire attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan presumably on Thursday, August 27th. This is likely an American.

NATO is reporting the death of another ISAF service personal in an IED attack in in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, August 26th. This is also likely an American.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in a hostile fire/small arms fire attack in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, August 26th. The press is reporting this to be an American soldier killed when they attacked a medical facility.


Aug. 24 airpower summary:

Aug. 25 airpower summary:

Sinopec wins oil rights in Iraq's Kurdish region

Nearly $165 bn transferred to Iraq fund: UN chief

Alleged Drug Ties of Top Afghan Official Worry U.S.

End military surveillance missions, China tells US

Reported Security incidents:


Baghdad:
#1: Separately, two explosive charges planted in two civilian cars detonated late on Wednesday on a thoroughfare in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Adhamiyah, wounding a total of 12 people and damaging several nearby shops, the source added.

#2: Another official says three car bombs exploded in northern Baghdad, wounding four police officers and two civilians.

#3: Another car bomb also struck a police patrol in eastern Baghdad, wounding seven people.

Four people were wounded on Thursday in a roadside bomb blast in eastern Baghdad, a police source said. “A roadside bomb, planted on the public road, near Sahet Beirut in Palestine street, eastern Baghdad, exploded while a police vehicle patrol was passing, injuring two civilians and two policemen and damaging one of the patrol’s vehicles,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: A jeweler on Wednesday was wounded during an exchange of gunfire with a group of gunmen who broke into his shop in Baghdad, according to a police source. “Three gunmen driving a black civilian car attempted to burgle a jeweler’s shop on Falastine St., eastern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.The owner of the shop engaged in a shootout with the gunmen, which left him, along with one of his workers, wounded, the source noted.

#5: A roadside bomb wounded two civilians when it blew up in west Baghdad's upscale district of Mansour on Wednesday, police said.

#6: One U.S. vehicle was devastated when it was hit by a roadside bomb in western Baghdad, a source from the Iraq police said on Thursday. “The incident took place on Thursday in al-Ghazaliya neighborhood,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The source was unable to report any casualties as U.S. forces cordoned off the area.


Taji:
#1: A car bomb which parked near a parking lot at the entrance of Baghdad's northern suburb of Taji detonated on Thursday morning, killing a civilian and wounding five others, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.


Kirkuk:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car attacked a police foot patrol in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, killing a policeman and wounding another, late on Wednesday, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded two civilians when it exploded in central Kirkuk on Wednesday, police said


Mosul:
#1: A sticky improvised explosive device (IED) on Wednesday went off in front of the house of an employee working for Baiji refinery, a security source in Ninewa said. “The explosion caused damage to the house, located in al-Qayara district (60 km south of Mosul), but no casualties have been reported,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: One US soldier and 12 Taliban militants were killed in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan after Afghan and US forces attacked a clinic where a wounded Taliban commander was seeking medical treatment, officials said Thursday.Afghan security forces got information that the militants had taken one of their wounded commanders to a clinic in Sar Hawza, a district in the south-eastern province of Paktika Wednesday, Hamidullah Zewak, spokesman for the provincial governor, said. The Afghan and US forces supported the police, who came under fire from the militants barricaded inside the clinic after they tried to enter the medical facility, he said, adding that 12 militants were killed when US forces conducted an airstrike.

#2: suspected U.S. drone attack killed at least six people and wounded another nine in northwestern Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region Thursday, intelligence officials said. Two missiles were fired at a suspected militant hide-out in the stronghold of top Taliban commander Waliur Rehman, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

#3: Four police were killed and three others sustained injuries as a roadside bomb struck their van in Khost province of east Afghanistan on Thursday, police said. "It was a remote-controlled bomb targeting a vehicle of border police in Garboz district at 1 p.m. local time (0830GMT), leaving four dead on the spot and injuring three others," a senior police officer Shir Mohammad Kuchi told Xinhua.

#4: Repeated automatic gunfire was heard on Thursday morning in the Afghan capital, where Taliban insurgents wearing suicide vests have struck twice this month in commando-style raids. There was no immediate explanation for the gunfire from authorities, but the country is involved in counting ballots from a presidential election last week that the Taliban vowed to violently disrupt.

#5: Pakistan's security forces apprehended 45 militants in the continued search and clearance operations in northwest Pakistan's Swat and Malak and districts during the last 24 hours, the army said Thursday. The army said in a daily update that the security forces reacting sharply on a tip off apprehended nine militants and a vehicle in Ser and Tilgram area in Swat. The vehicle was being prepared for a suicide attack. According to the statement, 14 militants surrendered themselves to the security forces at Grid Station near Fatehpur along with four 7mm rifles.


MoD: Fusilier Shaun Bush

DoD: Cpl. Darby T. Morin

DoD: 2nd Lt. Joseph D. Fortin

War News for Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Selly Oak, England on Tuesday, August 25th. He was wounded in an IED blast near Sangin, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Saturday, August 15th.


Mass. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy dies at age 77: (It's a sad day indeed - whisker)


Aug. 20 airpower summary: Aug. 21 airpower summary: Aug. 22 airpower summary: Aug. 23 airpower summary:

Iraq aims to increase oil production by four times:

Powerful Iraqi Shiite leader has died in Iran:

Taliban deny role in southern Afghan attack:

Radio Free Afghanistan Reporter Beaten By Police:

U.S. helicopter accidentally dumps Afghan ballot boxes:

Report Shows Tight C.I.A. Control on Interrogations:

No immunity in any CIA abuse cases-UN rights chief:

Pipeline key to West’s interest in Afghanistan? (I haven't see any discussions on this topic since the start of the conflict years ago but this in theory was one of the major factors behind the invasion. The article isn't the greatest, but in conceptual theory remember "follow the money train." -- whisker)


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Four policemen on Tuesday were injured in an explosive charge blast in Baghdad, according to a local police source. “A roadside improvised explosive device (IED) went off on al-Nidal St., downtown Baghdad, while a police patrol vehicle was passing the location.

#2: An unknown gunmen on Tuesday night opened fire on a convoy of the Planning Ministry in central Baghdad. “An unknown armed man opened fire on the convoy in Arsat al-Hindiya street in al-Karada region in central Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that security forces cordoned off the region and started searching for the gunman.
He did not give further details.

#3: At least five persons were wounded in a car bomb explosion on Wednesday in eastern Baghdad, a police source said. “A booby-trapped car went off near a police checkpoint at Wahran intersection in eastern Baghdad, injuring three policemen and two civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: Tuesday One civilian was injured by an adhesive bomb that was stuck to his car in Saidiyah in south Baghdad around 6 p.m.

#5: Four members of the national police were injured by a roadside bomb in doura neighbirhood in south Baghdad on Tuesday evening.


Diyala Prv:
#1: One policeman was wounded on Tuesday in a bomb explosion in Baaquba and six suspected gunmen were arrested after the incident, a security source said. “An improvised explosive device went off Tuesday (Aug. 25) near a joint checkpoint of Sahwa and police forces in al-Mafraq region in Baaquba, injuring a policeman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A roadside bomb targeted and killed a farmer in his orchard in Buhruz, 4 km to the south of Baquba Wednesday morning.

#3: Two bodies were found in Imam Mansour, Baladruz district, 45 km to the east of Baquba, Wednesday.


Amarra:
#1: Three explosive charges were defused and 17 wanted men were arrested in Missan, local police chief said in a statement Tuesday. “Anti-explosives department defused three bombs; one in al-Muaalamen neighborhood, central Amara, the second was defused on the Amara-Kahlaa road and the third was planted near the second one,” said the statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: One policeman was wounded in a sticky bomb explosion in southwestern Kirkuk, a security source said Wednesday. “A bomb, stuck to a policeman’s car, went off on Wednesday morning (Aug. 26) in al-Waseti neighborhood in southwestern Kirkuk, injuring him and destroying his car,” Colonel Kamel Ahmad, deputy chief of al-Muqdad police, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Two civilians were killed Wednesday in a bomb explosion in eastern Mosul, a security source said. “An improvised explosive device went off Wednesday (Aug. 26) while a police vehicle patrol was passing in al-Faisaliya region in eastern Mosul, killing two passing civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Gunmen stormed a bus and shot dead one of its passengers in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two Iraqi soldiers were wounded Tuesday when a roadside bomb went off targeting their patrol in northern Falluja, said a source from the city’s police. “The incident took place this noon,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Police forces on Tuesday found a booby-trapped car on the highway in eastern Falluja city, according to a local police chief. “The vehicle was loaded with TNT explosives, a number of explosive charges and an amount of C4 explosives,” Col. Mahmoud al-Issawi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The driver, who was wearing an explosive belt, was arrested,” the colonel indicated.

#3: A police force defused two roadside bombs east of Falluja and arrested four suspects within the same area, said a source from the city’s police. “The bombs were planted by unknown gunmen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The roadside bombs were defused without causing casualties or damage,” he said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Pakistani jets and helicopter gunships pounded militant positions in South Waziristan on Wednesday, officials said, in a fresh assault on Taliban rebels in the lawless tribal belt. The strikes hit about 40 kilometres (24 miles) east of South Waziristan's main town Wana, security and military officials said, with a handful of troops and militants killed in the bombing and clashes. "This is basically a road clearance operation. Gunships and heavy artillery are taking part. Jet fighters also bombed their positions," a military official based in the main northwest city Peshawar told AFP. A security official said paramilitary forces were clearing about 20 kilometres of road from South Waziristan to the neighbouring Dera Ismail Khan district to make it secure for paramilitary and military movement. "We are facing some minor resistance, militants are firing rockets and using other weapons," the security official said. The military official in Peshawar said: "Two paramilitary troops were martyred and seven injured during two days of operations. Several militants have been killed and an unknown number of them injured in the operation."

#2: Eighteen militants were killed and 13 others arrested in ongoing operations in northwest Pakistan during the last 24 hours, local officials said Wednesday.

#2: Tuesday the Islamist rebels were blamed for setting off a truck bomb in the heart of southern city Kandahar, killing up to 43 people and injuring 65, almost all civilians. The bomb blew up near a Japanese construction company, a guest house used by foreigners and government offices.

#3: A bomb attack on Wednesday in Kunduz killed the head of the justice department in the northeastern province, Qari Jihangir, said police. "The bomb was placed in his car. We're investigating the incident right now," said regional police chief Abdul Razaq Yaqoubi.

#4: Clash between Taliban militants and an Afghan army officer have left four persons including the officer and three rebels dead in Wardak province of central Afghanistan, a press release of Afghan Defense Ministry said Wednesday. "Taliban rebels on Tuesday attacked an army officer Captain Lutfullah in Wardak province and the officer resisted, as a result the officer and three insurgents were killed," the press release added.

#5: One Pakistani engineer was killed and two were wounded when unknown gunmen attacked their vehicle as they were travelling through northeastern Baghlan province, provincial security official Majid Khan said.

#6: A roadside bomb killed one Afghan soldier and wounded two in Mohammad Agha district of Logar province, south of the capital, Kabul, on Monday, the Defence Ministry said.

#7: Four policemen were injured in motorcycle bomb blast in southwest Pakistan Wednesday, local TV channel reported. A remote controlled bomb was planted in the motorcycle and it went off to target police truck near Quetta in Balochistan province, the Private AAJ TV reported.

War News for Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The Washington Post is reporting the deaths of four American service members in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 25th.


3 police killed in Chechnya suicide bombing:

C.I.A. Abuse Cases Detailed in Report on Detainees:

Prosecuting the C.I.A.

History That Obama Can't Ignore:

Iraqi Shiite Leaders Create Alliance, Minus Maliki:

If you liked health care brawls, you'll love CIA torture probe:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi officials said a local official and four other people have been wounded when a bomb attached to a car exploded in Baghdad. Police said Tuesday's blast targeted the convoy carrying the district administrator of a mainly Shiite district in eastern Baghdad. Police said Issam Al Eboudi was wounded along with three guards and a bystander.

#2: Gunmen killed Ahmed Abbas al-Weis, a university professor at al- Anbar University, sources said. The attackers were dressed in military outfit when they shot the professor near his home in al- Zeidan district.

#3: Four policemen were wounded Monday in an improvised explosive device explosion in central Baghdad, a police source said. “An explosive device went off Monday night (Aug. 24) targeting a police vehicle patrol in al-Maghreb street, central Baghdad, injuring four policemen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: “On Tuesday, an explosive charge detonated in al-Karada’s Sabaa Qosoor area, downtown Baghdad, wounding three persons,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#5: “Meanwhile, four civilians were wounded when a roadside explosive device went off in al-Ameen neighborhood, southeastern Baghdad,” according to the same source.

#6: Baghdad’s Operations Command (BOC) on Tuesday arrested a gang in Baghdad al-Jadida area a few hours after they killed a man and his daughter in a neighboring area. “The gang killed a man and his daughter and stole 5 million Iraqi dinars, jewelry and a cell phone from their house in al-Doura area, southern Baghdad,” according to an official statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: In separate incident, a policeman was killed when gunmen attacked a checkpoint in Abu Ghraib, 20 kilometres west of Baghdad, sources added.

#2: Gunmen burst into the home of a university professor in Abu Ghraib, in Baghdad's western outskirts, late on Monday, killing the man, police said.


Kut:
#1: Monday Bombs planted on two minibuses killed at least 11 people and wounded 12 near the usually quiet southern town of Kut on Monday, officials said. Two police sources in Baghdad earlier said 20 people had been killed in Kut, and 10 wounded, but the head of the local council of Wasit province put the toll at 11 killed and 12 wounded. A Wasit police source also said 11 had died. The buses were on their way to Kut, a mainly Shi'ite Muslim area 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Baghdad, from Baghdad.


Samarra:
#1: A roadside bomb killed one policeman and wounded another when it struck a police patrol in central Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Police forces on Tuesday arrested a gunman after shooting down a civilian in a Mosul hospital, according to a local security source. “On Tuesday, an armed man opened fire on a patient inside al-Jumhouri Hospital, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The man died from his wounds shortly afterwards,” the source explained. “The gunman has also wounded a facility guard while he was trying to escape from the hospital,” the source noted.

#2: Gunmen entered a mosque in Mosul, north of Baghdad, on Monday, wounding a Muslim cleric and a child playing nearby, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A roadside bomb tore through a car carrying civilians in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, killing four passengers and wounding five others, the government announced Tuesday. The incident in the province of Paktia took place on Monday, the interior ministry said, blaming the attack on Taliban-led militants who are waging a deadly insurgency against the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

#2: Militants attacked German troops in Achin district of Kunduz province in north Afghanistan Sunday, an official said. The attack occurred in Mulakuli village Sunday morning, a senior police officer in the district of Achin Mohammad Rahim told Xinhua. However, he did not provide more details. Meantime, an official with the press department of Germany's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) confirmed the incident, saying one vehicle of the troops was damaged but there is no casualty.

#3: A roadside bomb killed four Afghan civilians working for a construction company in Yousef Khil district, Paktika province, the ministry of interior said in a statement.

#4: Afghan troops arrested a key Taliban bomb maker and found a cache of 300 improvised explosive devices in Logar province to the south of Kabul, the defence ministry said.

#5: Pakistan's security forces killed three militants and arrested 18 others in the continued search and clearance operations in northwest Pakistan's Swat and Malakand districts during the last 24 hours, the army said Tuesday. The army said that 11 local persons, who were forced to get terrorist training, voluntarily surrendered to the security forcesat Bar Shaur near Chuprial and the army also recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition in the operations at various areas in Swat.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Andrew T. Lobosco

War News for Monday, August 24, 2009

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier from a combat related injury in an undisclosed location in Baghdad on Sunday, August 23rd.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 23rd. The Washington Post reports these to be Estonian soldiers.

The Washington Post is reporting the death of an American ISAF soldier in an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 23rd.


Iraq’s Second Oil Bidding Round Needs Higher Fees to Succeed:

Vote fraud allegations increase in Afghanistan:

Obama authorises elite interrogation team: Report:

Spy planes diverted to Afghanistan war:

Radioactive US weapons taking toll in Iraq:

U.S. Military Says Its Force in Afghanistan Is Insufficient:

26 terrorists killed in NW Iran:


Reported Security incidents:

Diyala Prv:
#1: A mortar struck a private home in the Iraqi province of Diyala, killing one civilian and injuring two others, all members of the same family. The attack of unknown origin occurred in the village of al- Saadiya, the Yaqen news agency reported.


Amarra:
#1: Police forces on Monday defused a roadside bomb and seized arms and ammunition in Missan, said the relations and media director of the province’s police. “The roadside bomb was defused at al-Askari neighborhood, central Amara city,” Colonel Sadeq Salam told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Gunmen shot dead an Afghan television journalist and severely wounded his colleague Monday in northwestern Pakistan. Janullah Hashim Zada was gunned down as he travelled on a public minibus from Torkham on the Afghan border to the main northwestern city of Peshawar, said Khyber Agency official Omair Khan. Zada's colleague, Ali Khan, was seriously hurt with a gunshot wound to the neck. Both men worked for Afghan-based Shamshad TV. Zada also provided material from time to time to other news organizations, including The Associated Press. The driver of the minibus, Abbas Khan, said a white car forced his vehicle to stop after it passed near the town of Jamrud. Three gunmen inside then opened fire on the vehicle.


DoD: Spc. Justin R. Pellerin

DoD: Sgt. Matthew L. Ingram

DoD: Spc. Troy O. Tom

DoD: Pfc. Jonathan C. Yanney

MoD: Warrant Officer Eerik Salmus

MoD: Sergeant Raivis Kang

News of the Day for Sunday, August 23, 2009

Residents of a house damaged in a bomb attack are seen in a yard that serves as their home after a massive truck bombing in front of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Saturday that those who carried out bombings that targeted government buildings in the Iraqi capital received help to pull off the attacks, possibly from Iraqi security forces.
(AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

Gunmen attack a checkpoint in Adhamiya, killing 2 soldiers and injuring 1.

CNN also reports a roadside bomb injures 2 people in Saidiya, southeastern Baghdad.

Mosul

Four Iraqi soldiers killed, 1 injured in car bomb explosion.

Policeman killed with silenced weapon at a checkpoint.

Unidentified body of a man in his 20s is found near near al-Khadraa neighborhood.

Taji

Two separate roadside bombs injure 11 police.

Zumar (near Mosul)

Two Iraqi soldiers killed, 1 injured in bomb attack.

Hamrin (near Khanaqin)

Three mortar shells kill 1 man, injure 2 people.

Ahsi village, near Fallujah

Three bodyguards injured in IED attack on Sheikh Taleb al-Hassanawi, a senior chieftain of the al-Bu Issa clans, who escapes unharmed.

Other News of the Day

Abdulaziz Al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (the largest Shiite party) suffers a health crisis and is rushed to a Tehran hospital. Hakim has cancer and has been staying in Iran for treatment. His son has been running the party. At this point, his death or incapacitation will probably have little impact. -- C

As Ramadan begins amid continuing violence, PM Nuri al-Maliki makes his first public remarks since the massive bomb attacks on government buildings on Wednesday. Maliki assures Iraqis that the government will defeat terrorism, and that the perpetrators of Wednesday's attacks have been captured. However, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari says the government is promoting a false sense of security and that the situation is deteriorating. He accuses elements of the government of collaborating with attackers. Excerpt from Khalid al-Ansary's summation:

Many ordinary Iraqis blame intra-Shi'ite rivalry ahead of the election, or lingering disputes between majority Shi'ites, once dominant Sunnis and minority Kurds, for the bomb blasts. Security experts cite nonchalance, disorganization and internal rivalries among the Iraqi military, intelligence and police forces as underlying causes for security lapses.

Maliki pledged to purge the police and army of those who were loyal to factions or parties rather than the country. He reiterated government accusations that al Qaeda and supporters of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's banned Baath party were responsible and said the culprits had been captured. He also repeated allegations that unnamed countries in the region were fomenting violence in Iraq.

It was difficult to ascertain how much credence to give to the reported detentions. Previous claims of major arrests have not been borne out and officials did not explain why the news was only released after two days and following stiff criticism.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Abbas discusses the deteriorating situation in Anbar. Excerpt:

Anbar, Iraq's largest province, is viewed by the U.S. military as a victory trophy because it was once lost to Sunni Islamist militants. After at least a year of relative quiet, the province has again been rocked by bombs in recent weeks. Sunnis under Saddam were the country's elite, but complain of being marginalised since his ouster in 2003. Iraq is now led by its Shi'ite majority, oppressed under Saddam's rule.

"We Sunnis are being sidelined. We're losing Kirkuk and can barely hold Mosul," said one Anbar police officer, referring to two Iraqi cities whose control Sunni Arabs fear they may lose to ethnic Kurds, now a powerful Iraqi group since Saddam's fall.

The officer, despite his official job and uniform, asked to be described as a member of Saddam's army. The Baath party was outlawed and Saddam's army dissolved soon after the U.S. invasion more than six years ago.

Trial of security officers accused of a deadly bank robbery on July 28 is disrupted by relatives of the victims. Talk about a rush to judgment. A capital trial takes place less than one month after the crime. -- C

U.S. agrees to give names of detainees in its secret prison system to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Just to clarify what we're talking about here:

Unlike the secret prisons run by the CIA that President Barack Obama ordered closed in January, the US military continues to operate the Special Operations camps, which it calls temporary screening sites, in Balad, Iraq, and Bagram, Afghanistan. As many as 30 to 40 foreign prisoners have been held at the camp in Iraq at any given time, military officials said; they did not provide an estimate for the Afghan camp but suggested that the number was smaller.

The ICRC is allowed access to almost all American military prisons and battlefield detention sites in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Special Operations camps have been excluded. . . .The New York Times reported in 2006 that some soldiers at the temporary detention site in Iraq, then located at Baghdad international airport and called Camp Nama, beat prisoners with rifle butts, yelled and spit in their faces, and used detainees for target practice in a game of jailer paintball.

Blast walls in Baghdad start to go back up.

Afghanistan Update

Attack on German troops in Kunduz causes no casualties, according to Germany's Provincial Reconstruction Team.

John Swain of the Sunday Times finds Afghan election soaked in blood, marred by fraud. Excerpt:

Hamidullah lost his life trying to vote. Had he voted, his age would have been an insignificant fraud in an election that included the registration of thousands of phantom women voters by husbands or village elders, the widespread sale of voter registration cards and the coercion of voters by regional chiefs working for President Hamid Karzai or his primary rival Abdullah Abdullah, the former foreign minister.

As Karzai claims victory, Abdullah claims the vote was rigged.

Rosie Dimanno agrees with Abdullah. Excerpt:

What the observers saw: Underage voters, illiterates being told who to mark their ballots for, monitors ejected from polling centres, men acting as proxy voters for women and, in at least one case, somebody hauling a pre-stuffed ballot box into a polling station.

After the big whew of a presidential election pulled off with minimal violence – the Taliban could not fatally sabotage the affair, as vowed – alarms are being raised about the skulduggery and bamboozling on election day.

And while insurgents did lob scores of rockets at polling stations, allegedly cut off the fingers of two voters in Kandahar province, ambushed election staff and forced a British Chinook helicopter to make an emergency landing in Helmand after its engine was set ablaze by enemy fire, little of the voting chicanery could be blamed on militants.

Ballot box bunco of a more prosaic variety is coming to light, with much of the flim-flam hung on local partisans and the regional agents of leading presidential candidates President Hamid Karzai's big political machine most frequently accused. He, of course, had the entire apparatus of the state at his beck and call, as rivals had complained throughout the campaign.

Quote of the Day

Perhaps it is one of those infamous paradoxes of counterinsurgency that while the ISF is not good in any objective sense, it is good enough for Iraq in 2009. Despite this foreboding disclaimer about an unstable future for Iraq, the United States has achieved our objectives in Iraq. Prime Minister (PM) Maliki hailed June 30th as a “great victory,” implying the victory was over the US. Leaving aside his childish chest pounding, he was more right than he knew. We too ought to declare victory and bring our combat forces home.

Col. Timothy R. Reese, Chief, Baghdad Operations Command Advisory Team, MND-B, Baghdad, Iraq.

War News for Saturday, August 22, 2009

Iraqi FM: Baghdad bombings possible inside job:

After Blasts, Iraqi Officials Point Fingers:

Iraqi PM blames Sunni insurgents for Baghdad bombs:

Legitimacy concerns over Afghanistan elections:

Afghan Election Poses New Tests for Washington:

Afghanistan Contractors Outnumber Troops:

CIA Used Gun, Drill in Interrogation:

Environmental Intrigue on the Eastern Shore:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: In Adhamiyah, a Sunni neighbourhood in north-west Baghdad, two soldiers were shot dead at a checkpoint by gunmen using silenced pistols, who then fled the scene in a car. A third soldier was wounded.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded two civilians in Saiydia district, southern Baghdad, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: In Baquba, 60km north-east of the capital in Diyala province, a soldier was killed and two others wounded when a bomb exploded as their convoy passed through the centre of the city.

#2: Iraqi army forces found on Friday an unknown body in Khanaqin, an army source said, while a police source said that a man killed his son during a family argument in Jalawlaa. “An Iraqi army force found on Friday afternoon (Aug. 21) an unknown corpse of a young man on the main road between Jalawlaa and al-Saadiya districts, southwest of Diala,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the body bore signs of gunshot wounds and his hands tied behind his back.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: Iraq Security Forces recovered a truck Friday with five tons of C-4 explosives in the Abu Ghraib area, on the western outskirts of Baghdad, Atta said Friday night.


Kirkuk:
#1: An Iraqi army officer on Saturday was wounded when an explosive charge went off in southern Kirkuk, according to a local police source. “Today, an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted the vehicle of an army officer near al-Rabie Bridge, southern Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded an off-duty Iraqi army officer in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Three army soldiers were killed and four were wounded in a car bomb explosion in west of Mosul on Friday, Talafar police chief said. “A car rigged with explosives went off Friday afternoon (Aug. 21) near an Iraqi army vehicle patrol in Uwaynat village in Rabiea district, west of Mosul, killing three soldiers and injuring four,” Ali Hadi Ubeid told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A civilian was killed and three others were injured when a bomb detonated in Tal Afar city west of Mosul on Friday morning.

#3: Four Iraqi soldiers including two officers were killed and one was injured by a roadside bomb that targeted their vehicle on Zammar – Rabiaa Street northwest of Mosul on Friday afternoon.

#4: An owner of a liquor store on Saturday was killed by unknown gunmen in downtown Mosul City, according to a local police source. “This afternoon, a group of unidentified gunmen opened fire on a man inside his store on Halab St., downtown Mosul, killing him on the spot,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#5: A neighborhood’s mayor and two children were all killed when a roadside bomb went off Saturday in front of the mayor’s office in Mosul city, said a police source from Ninewa province.
“The blast took place at al-Qahira neighborhood, northern Mosul city,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The two children, 7 and 12 years old, were close to the incident’s location,” he said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Friday Two guards of Captain Jamal al Jumaili, the in charge officer of Fallujah checkpoints were wounded when a bomb detonated near the house of the officer in Fallujah west of Baghdad on Thursday night.

#2: Friday Around 1 p.m. gunmen driving a speeding car opened fire upon Sheikh Abdul Rahman Thahir Al-dhari while he was leaving the mosque in Al-zidan area in east Fallujah after the Friday prayers. Two of the Sheikh's guards were injured.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban guerillas have killed two Afghan policemen in an attack on a police station in the eastern province of Nangarhar, an official says. The attack took place Saturday after a man carrying explosives attached to his body, entered a police station in Jalalabad and opened fire on officers inside the building. "Two policemen were killed and a third was wounded in the shooting,” Ahmad Zia, a spokesman for Nangarhar governor told Press TV's correspondent, adding that the police managed to kill the assailant before he could detonate his explosives.

#2: A roadside bomb killed six Afghan police, including a senior officer, in Baghlan province in central Afghanistan on Saturday, the interior ministry said.

#3: An explosion of a landmine killed six civilians in Helmand province in the south on Friday, the interior ministry said.


MoD: Serjeant Paul McAleese

MoD: Private Jonathon Young

DoD: Army 1st Sgt. Jose S.N. Crisostomo

DoD: Pfc. Brian M. Wolverton

War News for Friday, August 21, 2009

The British MoD is reporting the deaths of two British ISAF soldiers in a roadside bombing near Sangin, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Thursday, August 20th.

The DoD is reporting what appears to be a new death, previously unreported by the military. Spc. Matthew D. Hastings died from a non-combat related incident in Baghdad Iraq on Monday, August 17th.

Reuters is reporting the death of an American soldier in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in Eastern Afghanistan presumably on Thursday, August 20th.


Aug. 19 airpower summary:

Aug. 18 airpower summary:

Ridge: Bush officials sought to raise terror alert before '04 vote:

Suicide attacks in Chechnya kill 4:

CIA operated drones from two Pakistan air force bases: Experts:

Kidnapped French tourist freed in SW Pakistan:

11 Afghan electoral workers killed: commission:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi police official said a bomb attached to a small truck exploded Friday at the entrance of a wholesale vegetable market. The truck passed through an Iraqi police checkpoint in southern Baghdad but was not searched minutes before exploding at the front gate of the market, killing two and wounding 20, said the official. The truck bomb Friday exploded at about 7:30 a.m., the height of business at the wholesale market in Dora, a primarily Sunni neighborhood in southern Baghdad, the official said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Five persons on Thursday were found dead a few hours after they had been kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Diala province, according to a local security source. “On Thursday, unknown gunmen clad in Iraqi army uniform kidnapped five persons from a café in Tabba village, Jalawlaa district (155 km northeast of Baaquba),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: One civilian was killed on Friday and his son was wounded by U.S. forces in north of Baaquba, according to a security source. “U.S. troops raided al-Mulla Houbash village in Khales district, north of Baaquba, on Friday (Aug. 21) and stormed a house, where they opened fire on its owner, killing him and injuring his son,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The forces arrested the wounded son on the pretext of being wanted to judicial authorities,” he added.


Al Mansouriya:
#1: An improvised explosive device (IED) on Thursday went off near a U.S. patrol vehicle in Thi-Qar province, but no casualties were reported, according to a local official. “The blast occurred in al-Mansouriya area while a U.S. patrol vehicle was entering the city in the company of Iraqi police patrol cars,” the chairman of the security committee in Thi-Qar’s provincial council, Sijad al-Assadi, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The explosion did not cause any damage or casualties on the U.S. side, a media spokesperson for the Multi-National Force (MNF) said.


Hilla:
#1: Thursday "This afternoon, two civilians were killed and nine others were injured when a sticky explosive device went off on a bus north of Hilla City,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A roadside bomb went off in Hilla, Thursday afternoon causing no casualties or damages.


Mahaweel:
#1: Thursday “Two other explosive charges exploded in a popular market in al-Mahaweel district (16 km north of Hilla), killing two civilians and wounding 15 others,” the source noted.

#2: A Kia mini bus filled with passengers detonated near the checkpoint at the entrance of the town of Mahawil, 13 km to the north of Hilla at 2 p.m. Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring 21 others.


Al Maseeb:
#1: Thursday “In two simultaneous blasts, two other devices detonated in al-Maseeb district (45 km north of Hilla), wounding 41 persons,” the source added.

Two roadside bombs went off simultaneously in the city of Musayeb, 27 km to the north of Hilla late Thursday afternoon killing 13 civilians and injuring 130 others.


Kirkuk:
#1: A lawmaker and his family were wounded Friday by gunmen in south of Kirkuk province, the province districts’ police chief said. “Unknown gunmen attacked MP Ahmad Saleh while on his car with his family on al-Rabiya village road in Daqouq district, south of Kirkuk,” Brig. Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The lawmaker, his wife and one of his children were wounded in the attack,” he said, noting that they were rushed to the Kirkuk public hospital for treatment.


Mosul:
#1: Thursday A roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi army patrol in New Mosul, central Mosul, Thursday, killing one serviceman and injuring five others.

#2: The body of a member of the Kurdish Peshmerga security forces was found in west Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said, after he was kidnapped a day earlier. The body bore bullet wounds.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A U.S. drone fired a missile Friday into a suspected militant hide-out in Pakistan’s lawless northwest, killing 11 people in the stronghold of a jihadist commander accused of attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan, intelligence officials said. Friday’s attack was on a housing compound in Dande Darpa Khel, a village less than a mile west of Miran Shah in North Waziristan, three intelligence officers said condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Eleven people were killed, some of whom were Afghans, two of the officers said.

#2: Taliban insurgents killed an election official in an attack on a vehicle carrying boxes of counted ballot papers in northern Balkh province, Afghan army commander General Murad Ali said. The boxes of ballot papers were set on fire, he said.

#3: Two Afghan soldiers and four insurgents were killed during a clash in Ghazni province, southwest of Kabul, after militants attacked a polling station overnight, said Ismail Jahangir, the provincial governor's spokesman.

#4: Afghan security forces killed six Taliban insurgents after the militants attacked their post in the Shah Wali Kot district of southern Kandahar province, the Interior Ministry said.

#5: Insurgents attacked an election convoy carrying counted ballot papers in Logar province, south of Kabul, on Thursday night, said Zekria Barakzai, deputy chief of the election commission. There were no casualties and no election material had been damaged, he said


DoD: Pfc. William Z. Vanosdol

DoD: Spc. Matthew D. Hastings

DoD: Spc. Paul E. Dumont, Jr.

DoD: Staff Sgt. Clayton P. Bowen

DoD: Pfc. Morris L. Walker

War News for Thursday, August 20, 2009

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers in a small arms fire attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, August 19th. These appear to be American soldiers/Marines. (Note the third death in this release is covered in yesterdays Reuters article.)

NATO is reporting the death of another ISAF soldier in a mortar attack in some undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, August 20th. This also is likely an American.


Aug. 17 airpower summary:

Aug. 16 airpower summary:

Iraq forces admit lapses after blasts kill 95:

CIA hired Blackwater for assassin program: reports

3 Canadian soldiers hospitalized with bacteria:

Top Taliban commander claims he has replaced Mehsud:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Attacks resumed on Thursday when the explosives-laden bicycle struck a restaurant shortly before 8 a.m. in downtown Baghdad, killing at least two people and wounding 18, according to al-Moussawi's office.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded four people on Wednesday in Adhamiya district of northern Baghdad, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Three guards of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) were wounded in an attack conducted by gunmen in central Saadiya district, a security source from Diala province said Thursday. “The armed men opened fire targeting the KDP office in central Saadiya, 35 km south of Khanaqeen suburb,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The gunmen were able to escape to an unknown place,” he said.


Kirkuk:
#1: The Multi-National Forces managed on Thursday to detonate a car bomb in the southwest of Kirkuk, without causing casualties, the province districts’ police chief said. “The Multi-National Forces managed on the wee small hours of Thursday (Aug. 20) to defuse a booby-trapped car in al-Tariqiya village in al-Abbasi district, southwest of Kirkuk, without laving casualties,” Brig. Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: The Multi-National Forces managed to defuse a second car bomb without casualties in western Kirkuk, a media source said. “The forces managed to defuse a car bomb parked near Sahet Seif in Arafa neighborhood in western Kirkuk, without leaving casualties,” Ferhad Mohamed told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: One Iraqi soldier on Wednesday was killed and three others, including an army colonel, were injured in an explosive charge blast in Ninewa province, according to a local security source. “This afternoon, a roadside explosive device exploded in Tal al-Salat village (60 km northwest of Mosul City) while an Iraqi army patrol vehicle was passing the location,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “One serviceman was killed and three other army personnel, including Col. Raad al-Shamri, were wounded,” the source indicated.The colonel, who is in a critical condition, has been rushed to a hospital in the Kurdistan region, the source noted.

#2: Four policemen on Wednesday were killed or wounded during clashes with gunmen in Ninewa province, according to a local security source. “This afternoon, clashes erupted between National Police forces and a group of gunmen in al-Yabisat area, western Mosul, leaving one cop killed and three others injured,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “One gunman was wounded in the clashes, but was soon evacuated from the scene by his comrades,” the source noted.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Insurgents killed one man in a rocket attack in Kandahar city.

#2: A police chief and 21 Taliban militants were killed in a raid on a police post. The Taliban attacked the police post in the Baghlan Jadeed district of the northern province of Baghlan, killing a district police chief and wounding two others, said Jawid Basharat, spokesman for the provincial police chief. Police forces fought back and killed 21 militants and wounded 22, he said.

#3: Five rockets hit Kunduz, the capital of the northern province of the same name, wounding five people, said Mohboobullah Sayedi, spokesman for the provincial governor. Two of the rockets hit a polling station.

#4: A British Chinook helicopter made an emergency landing in southern Afghanistan following an engine fire, but the crew escaped unhurt, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday. The cause of the incident on Wednesday night was being investigated and enemy action had not been ruled out, the MoD added. The helicopter was later deliberately destroyed by a coalition airstrike to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Taliban.

#5: Two Taliban fighters holed up in a disused building in the capital were killed during a gunbattle with police on Thursday as the Islamist group made good its threats to disrupt elections with violence across the country. In Thursday's attack, the two militants took over a two-storey building in the east of the city and a gunfight ensued when police and several foreign soldiers surrounded them, said Abdullah Uruzgani, a police battalion commander. "The two fighters were killed and no one escaped," said Uruzgani, adding there were no police casualties. Unconfirmed reports said one of the fighters had blown himself up and the other was shot dead.


DoD: Sgt. 1st Class William B. Woods Jr.

DoD: Lance Cpl. Leopold F. Damas

DoD: Gunnery Sgt. Adam F. Benjamin