War News for Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Seattle Times is reporting the deaths of two American soldiers in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 18th. Three additional soldiers were wounded in the attack.

The Belgium Ministry of Defense is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from bacterial meningitis in a hospital in Belgium on Thursday, August 13th. He contracted the disease in Kabul Afghanistan.


Aug. 15 airpower summary:

Bin Laden trail `not just cold, it's in deep freeze'

Plot against Balochistan intensifies:

Peace Talks With Taliban Are a Top Issue in Afghan Vote:


Reported Security incidents:

Diyala Prv:
#1: Police forces on Monday arrested two gunmen while planting an explosive charge as well as arresting four suspected gunmen in two separate operations in southern Khanaqin, according to a security source. “A police force managed on Monday (Aug. 17) to arrest two gunmen while planting a bomb on Hamrien-al-Saadiya road, south of Khanaqin,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A magnetic bomb stuck to a civilian car inside which were two off-duty Facilities Protection Service (FPS) guards exploded in New Baquba, central Baquba at 10 a.m. Monday killing one and seriously injuring the other.

#3: Gunmen attacked a checkpoint manned by Sahwa members in al Atheim neighbourhood, al Khalis, 15 km to the north of Baquba at 10 45 p.m. Monday, killing two Sahwa men and injuring another four.


Basra:
#1: Two Katyusha rockets have targeted the U.S. military base at Basra International Airport, but no casualties were reported. “During a late hour last night, two Katyusha rockets were fired towards the U.S. base at Basra International Airport (25 km northwest of Basra City),” a source from the airport told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.There has been no word on casualties, the source noted.


Mosul:
#1: An improvised explosive device went off Monday in the southwest of Mosul, without causing any casualties, according to a security source. “An improvised explosive device went off Monday afternoon (Aug. 17) targeting an officer of Tal Abta police in southwest of Mosul while heading home,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The attack left no casualties but damaged the office’s military vehicle,” he noted. “Police managed also to defuse another bomb in the same area, without causing casualties,” he added.

#2: Anti-bombs squad from the Ninewa police managed on Monday to defuse a car bomb in central Mosul in a third security incident in Mosul in the past 24 hours, a security source said.

“The experts team managed to defuse a car rigged with explosives on Monday afternoon (Aug. 17) in al-Nabi Sheet region, central Mosul, without causing casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: One civilian was killed on Monday in a sticky bomb explosion in western Mosul, according to a security source. “A bomb, stuck to a civilian vehicle, went off Monday night (Aug. 17) killing its owner in Dawrat al-Yarmouk in western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: One civilian has died from a heart attack after an explosive device went off in downtown Mosul City, a local security source said on Tuesday, adding that two cops and two gunmen were also wounded in the blast. “On Monday evening, two gunmen detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) near a checkpoint in Dakka Barka area, downtown Mosul, wounding them along with two patrolmen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“One civilian died of a heart attack on hearing the bang of the blast,” the source noted.“One of the gunmen was seriously wounded, while the other lost a leg, the source added.

#5: Two mortar rounds targeted an Iraqi army checkpoint in al Noor neighbourhood, eastern Mosul at 10 p.m. Monday. No casualties were reported.

#6: An Iraqi army soldier was wounded on Tuesday in a sticky bomb explosion in southern Mosul, a police source said. “An improvised explosive device, stuck to a civilian vehicle of an army colonel, went off Tuesday (Aug. 18) in Wadi Hagar region in southern Mosul, injuring one of his companions’ soldier and damaging the vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
“The colonel survived the explosion,” he added, giving no more details.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy Tuesday on the outskirts of Kabul, killing at least seven civilians and wounding 50 people, including several international troops, officials said. A U.N. spokesman said three U.N. staff were also wounded. The suicide attack on a road close to a British military base killed seven civilians and wounded 50, a statement from the Ministry of Interior said.

The U.N. says two of its Afghan staff members were killed in a bombing that targeted a foreign military convoy in Kabul. It was not clear whether the two dead U.N. workers were included in the ministry's toll.

#2: Elsewhere, a suicide bomber struck the gates of an Afghan army base in the southern province of Uruzgan, killing three Afghan soldiers and two civilians, provincial police chief Juma Gul Himat said.

#3: Several small rockets were fired overnight at the capital and a police source said one caused some damage inside the sprawling, fortified presidential palace compound and a second hit the capital's police headquarters. Neither caused any casualties.

#4: Ten people were wounded when one of several rockets fired overnight at the eastern provincial capital, Jalalalad, hit a house, provincial governor spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said.

#5: Gunmen shot dead a provincial council candidate in the Murdian district, Jowzjan province on Monday evening, district governor, Abdullah Radmanish said.

#6: Eight insurgents were killed when police stormed a residence of district-level Taliban commander in the western Guzara district on Monday, provincial police chief, Esmatulah Alizai said.

#7: Three insurgents were killed and two wounded in a clash with police in nothern Chardara district overnight, a police official said.

#8: Taliban fighters attacked a police post on the southern outskirts of Kandahar city overnight but there were no casualties on either sides, a police source said.

#9: Taliban militants Tuesday set on fire a boys' school which was supposed to be a polling center for Aug. 20 election in Paktia province, east Afghanistan, an official said. "Armed militants burned a school in the wee hours of Tuesday in Sayed Karam district," Aziz Ahmad Wardak, police chief of Paktia, told Xinhua.


MoD: Lance Corporal James Fullarton

MoD: Fusilier Simon Annis

MoD: Fusilier Louis Carter

DoD: Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard

DoD: Cpl. Nicholas R. Roush

MoD: korporaal Alexandre Carraro