War News for Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier in an IED attack near Gereshk, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Sunday, November 15th.

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - North soldier in a vehicle accident in an undisclosed location presumably in northern Iraq on Monday, November 16th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Police forces found four bodies on Monday in western Baghdad, said a security source.
“The forces found four bullet-riddled bodies in al-Raas region in al-Aanaz village, western Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Four civilians on Tuesday were injured in an explosive charge blast in southern Baghdad, according to the Iraqi police. “At noon, an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in front of a stationer’s on 60 St., al-Doura neighborhood (southern Baghdad), wounding four civilians.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Tuesday killed a Sahwa member during an attack on a checkpoint in Baaquba, according to a Sahwa leader. “Today, an armed group belonging to al-Qaeda launched an attack on a Sahwa checkpoint in al-Othmaniya area, Baaquba,” Hossam al-Mujammaie told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “One Sahwa member was killed in the attack,” the leader noted.


Mahmoudiya:
#1: At least three civilians were killed and six others were wounded in an explosion in southern Baghdad on Monday, the Baghdad Operations Command (BOC) said in a statement. “A stockpile of ammunition went off in al-Qura Ghul region, and in al-Mahmoudiya district in southern Baghdad, killing three and injuring six,” said the statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

A booby trapped weapons cache in Qara Ghol area in the city of Mahmoudiyah, 40 km to the south of Baghdad blew up while Iraqi security forces were investigating it, Monday. The explosion killed three servicemen and injured six others.


Mahaweel:
#1: A Baghdad police lieutenant kidnapped his wealthy neighbour's 10-year-old son, killed him and then sought 160,000 dollars before being snared when his phone calls were traced, police said on Tuesday. The crime occurred in Mahawil, a town 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Baghdad, in Babil province. "We have arrested him and he has confessed to the crime," a police official in Hilla, the provincial capital, told AFP.


Shurqat:
#1: Police forces on Tuesday discovered a body belonging to a civilian in southern al-Shurqat district, Salah al-Din, according to a local security source. “On Tuesday, al-Shurqat police personnel found a body belonging to a civilian in Shukra village, southern al-Shurqat,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Hawija:
#1: Update The casualties from the car bomb explosion that ripped through central Kirkuk on Monday went up to six dead and eight wounded, according to the KDPD chief. “The explosion that occurred on Monday (Nov. 16) in Salah el-Din street in Khan Khorma region in central Kirkuk killed six and injured eight,” Brig. Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: In the city of Kirkuk, police found the body of prominent local businessman Shahin Mahmoud Shahin. Shahin, who had been abducted earlier this week, was found with a bullet in his chest in the neighbourhood of al-Hai al-Sanai.

#2: Elsewhere in the city, police found the body of a young man aged about 30. Police said he had apparently been tortured to death.

#3: Police forces on Tuesday found a body bearing gunshot wounds south of Kirkuk, according to a local police chief. “This morning, a corpse was found in al-Qadissiya al-Thaniya area near the market in southern Kirkuk,” the director of Orouba’s police, Col. Shirzad Mofry, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: Gunmen in a speeding car opened fire upon three people in Rabrin neighbourhood, eastern Kirkuk, Monday, killing one, who was a member of the Kurdish intelligence, the Asayesh and injuring the other two who are civilians.

#5: A parked car bomb targeted civilians near a shrine holy to the Kaka'i sect in one of the crowded marketplaces in central Kirkuk killing six civilians, injuring another eight. The explosion also caused great material damage to the nearby shops.


Mosul:
#1: At least three people were killed and two injured Monday when a bomb exploded in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police told the German Press Agency dpa. The bomb tore through a street in the al-Tahrir neighbourhood of eastern Mosul, police said, adding that the two injured civilians had been brought to hospital.

#2: One civilian was killed and his son was injured by gunmen in western Mosul on Monday, a security source said. “Unknown gunmen shot and killed a civilian and injured his son in 17 Tamouz region in western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: An Iraqi judge on Tuesday escaped an attempt on his life when gunmen attacked his car near Mosul, according to a local police chief. “Unknown gunmen driving a white pick-up truck attacked Judge Rabeea Abdulkareem Sadeq in Kakhorta area, al-Boogha village (60 km northwest of Mosul). “The judge was not hurt in the attack, but his driver was wounded and taken to the hospital for treatment,” Obeid noted.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Three synchronized bombings on Monday evening in central Falluja left 12 civilian casualties, according to a local security source.

Three simultaneous explosions targeted houses in which policemen lived in Fallujah at around 7.30 p.m. Monday, injuring eight people including four policemen, two of whom are critical.

#2: Two simultaneous explosions targeted two houses in which policemen lived in Fallujah before dawn, Monday. In the first house, an IED placed in a large patrol container was used and four family members including children were badly wounded. The second house was partly destroyed by the explosion in which two family members were wounded.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban militants attacked a unit of private security guards in Chardarah district in the northern province of Kunduz on Monday night, killing four guards and injuring another, Abdul Wahid Omarkhel, the district governor, said. The guards were providing security for a bridge construction project in Rahmat Bai village, he said, adding that a Taliban fighter was also killed in the firefight.

#2: Meanwhile, two militants including a district-level commander were killed in an operation jointly conducted by Afghan, German and US forces in Sarakbala area of the same district (Kunduz province) on Monday, Mohammad Razaq Yaqoubi, the provincial police chief, said. He said two pro-government militia fighters were also killed in the operation.

#3: Also on Monday, five insurgents including two rebel commanders were killed in a firefight with Afghan and international forces in Kunduz's Ali Abad district, Yaqoubi said.

#4: Pakistani security forces have cleared the Taliban stronghold of Srarogha in South Waziristan after an intense five-day battle in which 180 militants and seven soldiers were killed, disclosed an army officer Tuesday. Briefing reporters in South Waziristan's largest town of Wana, Brigadier Shafiq, the commander of the Rah-e-Nijat military operation, said troops were now advancing towards Makeen, another stronghold of the militants, and the area would also be cleared within a few days, Online news agency reported.


MoD: Rifleman Andrew Ian Fentiman

DoD: Staff Sgt. Stephen L. Murphy

DoD: Lance Cpl. Shawn P. Hefner

DoD: Spc. Christopher J. Coffland