War News for Friday, September 04, 2009

The British MoD is reporting the deaths of an ISAF soldiers small arms fire/gunshot wound attack in the Babaji district, Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Thursday, September 3rd.

The French Defense Ministry is reporting the death of a French ISAF soldier in a roadside bombing in Kipisa province, Afghanistan on Friday, September 4th. Nine additional soldiers were injured in the attack.


Aug. 31 airpower summary:

Army Announces New Afghanistan Troop Rotation:

Brown to Pledge to Maintain Britain’s Afghan Force:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Thursday In Baghdad's neighborhood of Azamiya a bomb targeting Sahwa militia men wounded four of them and four civilians.

#2: Thursday A car bomb at Dora on the southern edge of the city injured a Sahwa officer and four of his body guards.

#3: Thursday Five civilians were hurt in a bombing at Kasra in northern Baghdad.

#4: Thursday Around 3 p.m. a roadside bomb targeted civilians in Al Ghadeer neighborhood injuring three civilians.


Mussayab:
#1: Thursday A bomb explosion at a shrine in the town of Mussayab, 55 kilometers (34 miles) south of Baghdad in Babil province, claimed the lives of three worshippers and injured 51 others, police said.

Eight people were killed and 57 wounded in two bomb attacks targeting Shiite Muslims in Iraq late on Thursday, the health chief in Babil province said on Friday. The first attack came when a bomb exploded at a Shiite tomb in Musayyib, 55 kilometres (34 miles) south of Baghdad, police in the provincial capital of Hilla said.

A parked car bomb and four other bombs exploded in different areas of Babil province today. The car bomb targeted civilians near a holy Shiite shrine in Al Musayyib district. Three roadside bombs exploded in Mahawil town and another bomb near Hilla city, all targeting civilians. Four civilians were killed and 65 others were injured.

#2: The second, at Mahauil 80 kilometres south of the capital, was a booby-trapped car near another Shiite tomb.


Karbala:
#1: Thursday In Aun, a small community near the holy city of Kerbala, 110 kilometers south of Baghdad, eight people were hurt when a bomb went off at a market.


Kirkuk:
#1: Police forces found on Friday an unidentified body in north of Kirkuk, a senior police officer said. “Policemen found on Friday morning (Sept. 4) a body of a young man between Koulah and Khalobazani villages in Qura Hanjier district, north of Kirkuk,” Colonel al-Haqouqi Othman Abdullah told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The body bore signs of gunshot wounds,” he added, noting that the corpse was sent to the forensic medicine department in Azadi Kirkuk hospital.


Mosul:
#1: A policeman was killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near his patrol in the district of al-Nimrod, southeast Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Police forces detected the IED but it went off just as the policeman disembarked from his patrol vehicle to examine it,” the source added.

#2: Meanwhile, the same source added, a child was wounded when a stray bullet hit him in the area of al-Zanjili, western Mosul.

#3: A roadside bomb targeted a patrol of the Iraqi army in Al Qahira neighborhood in north Mosul injuring two civilians.

#4: A roadside bomb exploded near a police watch car in front of the fine arts institute in north Mosul killing one policeman.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, Afghan officials said. The NATO command said a “large number of insurgents” were killed or injured in the pre-dawn attack near the village of Omar Khel in Kunduz province. An Afghan police officer said the 90 dead included about 40 civilians who were siphoning fuel from the trucks. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said insurgents hijacked the trucks as they were headed from Tajikistan to supply NATO forces in Kabul. When the hijackers tried to drive them across the Kunduz River, the vehicles became stuck in the mud and the insurgents opened valves to release fuel and lighten the loads, he said. He said about 500 villagers swarmed the trucks to collect the fuel despite warnings that they might be hit with an airstrike, he said. Mujahid said no Taliban died in the attack.

#2: A suicide car bomb attack ripped through an Afghan security company vehicle on today, killing three guards providing an escort to Western troops in Afghanistan, police said. "A suicide attacker detonated his explosives-laden vehicle today near a foreign forces convoy in Del Aram district of Farhar,"said Ikramudin Yawar, police commander for western Afghanistan. "The suicide attacker hit an Afghan private security company vehicle providing escort to the foreign forces&aposconvoy, killing three Afghan guards. "One of the three killed was the commander of the security company. There have been no casualties or damage to the convoy,"he said.

#3: Spanish soldiers Thursday repelled an insurgent attack in Afghanistan, killing 13 militants and injuring at least three, the defence ministry in Madrid said. There were no casualties or injuries among the Spanish troops during the six-hour battle in Sabzak in central Afghanistan. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) sent helicopters at a Spanish request, but these did not open fire because of the proximity of a nearby village.

#4: On Wednesday, a Spanish sergeant was injured in an attack on a Spanish convoy in the same area.

#5: At least three terrorists were killed in a clash with a local tribal lashkar here in Mingora while two terrorists were arrested during security forces operation against militants in Bara Tehsil of Khyber agency on the third consecutive day on Thursday. According to the details, the militants opened fire on local tribal lashkar when it reached in Galoch areas of Kabal Tehsil. In an hour-long exchange of fire, three militants lost their lives while their accomplices managed to flee the area. A volunteer of local tribal lashkar was also wounded in the attack while militants also took the body of his one colleague along with them while bodies of two were lying in the area.

#6: Meanwhile the Taliban militants have taken control of telephone exchange in South Waziristan, suspending the agency communication with whole world including Pakistan. According to the details, the followers of slain Supreme Commander banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Baitullah Mehsud took control of main tower of telephone exchange in area called Sarwan Lagana Nawai, some 30 kilometers away from Wana, sources said. The militants have also cut some 1000 telephones, suspending the communication of South Waziristan with whole world. The militants have also setup bunkers and posts in the area. Sources said, the area is stronghold of Taliban militants.




MoD: Lance Corporal Richard James Brandon