News of the Day for Sunday, January 31, 2010

This is the McClatchy Bureau office in the Hamra Hotel after the attack on January 25. Go here for the McClatchy reporters' blog.

Reported Security Incidents

Samarra

Suicide bomb attack on a restaurant frequented by police and Sawha members kills 2, injures 25 on Saturday evening.

Baghdad

Note: Shiites are headed to Karbala to mark Arbaeen, the 40th day after the death of Imam Hussein.

Roadside bomb in al-Saydiya injures 2 pilgrims who were walking to Karbala.

Four pilgrims walking to Karbala injured by bomb attack in Yarmuk.

Three pilgrims walking to Karbala injured by bomb in Mashtal.

Reuters reports 4 pilgrims injured by a hand grenade in "Nusoor" (Nisoor?) Square. Whether this corresponds to one of the incidents reported by VoI and one or the other report is erroneous in both location and mode of attack is not clear. -- C

Mosul

Woman killed in a home invasion.

Tal Afar

Man with an explosive belt apprehended at a checkpoint.

Other News of the Day

Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, leader of the Anbar Awakening Council, is considering calling for an election boycott by Sunni Arabs, in response to the purge of hundreds of candidates by the electoral council. "They will not care about the election — they will ignore it, maybe, if these decisions stand," Abu Risha said at his sprawling compound just outside Ramadi, about 115km west of Baghdad. "I will make my decision later about encouraging people to go to vote or not."

Russian company Lukoil signs a contract to develop the West Qurna-2 oil field.

Afghanistan Update

More details emerge on "friendly fire" death of 4 Afghan soldiers on Friday. "Saturday's fighting erupted about 3am when a group of US Special Forces and Afghan commandos approached a remote Afghan army outpost that was set up about 18 months ago to guard the main highway between Kabul and Kandahar. NATO said the Afghan soldiers believed the unit was the Taliban and started shooting. The joint force returned fire and called in the air strike, which killed the four Afghan soldiers, NATO and the Afghan Defence Ministry said."

Pakistan says it is investigating reports that Hakimullah Mehsud died after a U.S. drone strike in mid-January. It seems clear he survived the attack but the rumors are that he died later of injuries.

Two Afghan soldiers killed, 3 wounded by roadside bomb in Uruzgan. Reuters also reports a 13 year old boy injured while planting a bomb in Badghis.

Quqnoos reports 4 Taliban killed in a gun battle with security forces in Herat, 2 more killed in Badghis after they attacked a relief convoy.

And one more thing . . .

U.S. Speeds Arms Buildup with Gulf Allies, says WaPo's Joby Warrick. "The Obama administration is quietly working with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf allies to speed up arms sales and rapidly upgrade defenses for oil terminals and other key infrastructure in a bid to thwart future military attacks by Iran, according to former and current U.S. and Middle Eastern government officials. The initiatives, including a U.S.-backed plan to triple the size of a 10,000-man protection force in Saudi Arabia, are part of a broader push that includes unprecedented coordination of air defenses and expanded joint exercises between the U.S. and Arab militaries, the officials said. All appear to be aimed at increasing pressure on Tehran." (Read the whole thing.)

Quote of the Day

It was a clever, lawyerly, almost Ciceronian performance in which Blair trotted out all the usual arguments and gave a display of his question-dodging skill. But it would have been much more revealing to see Blair quizzed by the parents, many of them present at the inquiry, of the British soldiers killed in Iraq. Then perhaps he wouldn't have got away quite so easily, as he did here, with murder.

Michael Billington

War News for Saturday, January 30, 2010

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Sgt. Carlos E. Gill died from an illness at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Tuesday, January 26th.

CNN is reporting the deaths of two American ISAF soldiers in an undisclosed incident in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, January 29th. Another American civilian was also died in the incident. Some news reports that the civilian was an Afghan interpreter who killed the two soldiers and the killed himself.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A militant hurled a hand grenade at Shi'ite pilgrims, killing one pilgrim and wounding two others in Baghdad's southern district of Saidiya, said Security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi.

#2: Two pilgrims were wounded by gunfire in Baghdad's southern district of Doura, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb seriously wounded a justice ministry official in western Baghdad, police said.


Tuz Khurmato:
#1: Two roadside bombs targeting a police patrol wounded two policemen and a civilian in Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A civilian man was shot dead by gunmen fire northwest of Kirkuk on Friday, according to the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD) chief. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire at a house in the village of Bibani al-Kabir, al-Toun Kobri district, (35 km) northwest of Kirkuk, killing a man inside,” Brig. Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Tal Afar:
#1: Policemen defused an improvised explosive device that was emplaced near a local football playground in the district of Talafar, west of Mosul city, on Saturday, a security source in Ninewa said. “The IED was planted near a public football playground frequented by sportspeople in al-Askari neighborhood, northern Talafar, (60 km) northwest of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide bomber killed 12 people Saturday at a police checkpoint in a northwest Pakistani tribal area where the military declared victory over the Taliban and al Qaeda last year, highlighting the difficulty Islamabad has in holding regions once the battle phase of its army offensives end. Ten civilians and two police officers died in the suicide attack in the Bajur tribal region, while 24 people were wounded, local government official Bakhat Pacha said. The attacker, on foot, struck a market area in the region's main town, Khar, he said.

#2: Overnight Saturday, three suspected U.S. missiles hit a compound and a bunker in the Mohammad Khel area of North Waziristan, part of a surge of the drone-fired strikes, intelligence officials said. The mountainous area is where a suspected U.S. drone is reported to have crashed on Jan. 24, they added. Two missiles in Saturday's attack hit the compound being used by the militants, killing seven of them, the intelligence officials said. The third killed two more insurgents in the bunker, they said. Another such missile strike early this month targeted a meeting of militant commanders in an apparently unsuccessful attempt to kill Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud.

#3: Mistaking one another for the enemy, NATO forces and Afghan soldiers battled in the morning darkness Saturday in a shootout that left at least four Afghan soldiers dead and prompted the Defense Ministry to call for the perpetrators to be punished. A joint patrol of Afghan and coalition forces took gunfire around 3 a.m. while on a mission in the Sayyidabad district of Wardak province, according to statements from NATO-led coalition and Afghan militaries. After returning fire and calling in an aircraft attack, coalition forces later realized that the initial shooting had come from an Afghan National Army outpost. The Afghan Defense Ministry condemned the friendly fire incident, which they said wounded other soldiers in addition to the four killed.


DoD: Pfc. Scott G. Barnett

DoD: Sgt. Carlos E. Gill

War News for Friday, January 29, 2010

The Tuscaloosa News is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division-South soldier in a non-combat related incident in an undisclosed location in Iraq on Thursday, January 28th.

NATO is reporting the death of an American ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, January 28th.


2 Indian army soldiers killed in rebel attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir:

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair faces grilling on support for Iraq invasion:

Taliban's leadership council organises and runs Afghan war from Pakistan:

Taliban say no decision yet on Karzai offer of talks:

War Plan for Karzai: Reach Out to Taliban:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Unknown gunmen shot and killed a mosque’s Imam on Thursday in western Baghdad, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on Sheikh Ahmad Saadon, Imam of al-Adl neighborhood’s mosque in western Baghdad, on Thursday afternoon (Jan. 28), killing him on the spot,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: One policeman was wounded on Thursday in an armed attack in southeastern Baghdad, according to a security source. “Unknown gunman opened fire on a police vehicle patrol in al-Wehda neighborhood in southeastern Baghdad, injuring a policeman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Four Iraqi soldiers were wounded on Friday in an improvised explosive device explosion in northern Baghdad, according to a police source. “An explosive device went off on Friday afternoon (Jan. 29) on the public road in al-Suliekh neighborhood in northern Baghdad, targeting an army vehicle patrol, injuring four servicemen and damaging one of the patrol’s vehicles,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Two civilians were lightly injured when a roadside bomb went off near a house in a village in Diyala province, the source said.

#2: In a third attack, also in Diyala, a woman and a man were wounded after being shot by gunmen.


Mosul:
#1: Two Iraqi soldiers were wounded on Friday by gunmen in western Mosul, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on an army’s checkpoint in 17 Tamouz neighborhood in western Mosul on Friday morning (Jan. 29), injuring two soldiers,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A bomb in northwest Pakistan destroyed a truck carrying oil to NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan on Friday. No one was wounded in the attack on the supply truck in the fabled Khyber Pass, government official Javed Khan said. Friday's attack on the Shiite Muslim Pakistanis in Baluchistan province appeared to be sectarian-driven.

#2: gunmen elsewhere in the country killed three Shiite Muslims on their way to visit holy sites in Iraq. Local police official Mohammad Ayaz said the group of travelers had come to Quetta city from the southern city of Karachi, and had hoped to travel across Iran to Iraq. The group was waiting in a bus Friday afternoon when the gunmen appeared on motorbikes and opened fire.
Two men and one woman were killed, while three other people were wounded, Ayaz said.

#3: Afghan troops backed by NATO attack helicopters battled Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests who launched an assault Friday in the heart of a major city in southern Afghanistan, witnesses and officials said. The gunbattle in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, occurred nearly two weeks after a similar assault in the Afghan capital of Kabul. Provincial officials said two attackers blew themselves up and one Afghan soldier was wounded in the fighting, which began about 10 a.m. when the insurgents opened fire from a building under construction near an army barracks.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, saying the Taliban had dispatched a team of seven men armed with suicide vests and machine guns to attack the local branch of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan and a guesthouse used by government officials in the city. Ahmadi said 20 foreigners had been killed and wounded, but NATO said the Afghan troops backed by attack helicopters had contained the gunmen in a vacant, four-story building and no casualties were reported on the pro-government side. Sporadic fighting continued as Afghan troops searched for the other militants. Police officials said they believed five or six militants were holed up inside the building but at least two had blown themselves up. Deputy provincial police chief Kamal Uddin said no civilian casualties had been reported and residents in the area were safe.

#4: Pakistani Taliban shot dead a tribesman they accused of spying for the United States, in North Waziristan, a tribal region on the Afghan border and a militant hotbed, security officials said.

War News for Thursday, January 28, 2010

Turkey plans oil refinery in northern Iraq:

Filipino militant not killed in Waziristan strike: report

International allies mull exit from Afghanistan:

Afghan Tribe to Fight Taliban in Return for Aid:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi police official says a sniper taking cover in a building in central Baghdad has opened fire on a checkpoint. The official says one policeman has been killed and another wounded in the attack Thursday afternoon. Police have sealed off the area and are searching for the sniper, he added. The attack in the primarily commercial district Karradah neighborhood is the latest in a string of attacks against security forces in the area.


Kirkuk:
#1: A sticky improvised explosive device (IED) targeted a vehicle in Kirkuk, wounding one civilian, a local security source said on Wednesday. “This afternoon, a sticky device hit a Kia-modeled vehicle near the provincial building in central Kirkuk, wounding its driver and causing damage to the car,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.The source did not give further details.

#2: Seven emergency policemen were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) hit their patrol vehicle in western Kirkuk, a local police source said on Thursday. “This morning, an explosive device hit an emergency police patrol vehicle near the electricity distribution department in al-Baath neighborhood, southwestern Kirkuk, wounding seven patrolmen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Four people were wounded on Thursday by a mortar shell explosion in the southwest of Kirkuk, a senior police officer said. “A mortar shell landed on Thursday morning (Jan. 28) on al-Zab police station, southwest of Kirkuk, injuring four people, including two policemen,” Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Wednesday killed a mayor in eastern Mosul City, a local police source said. “This afternoon, gunmen assassinated Jassem Atsa Khalaf, the mayor of al-Intisar neighborhood, eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A man wearing a police uniform was shot as he tried to enter an Iraqi police station in the small town of Zummar, northwest of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement. The man's suicide vest detonated after the shooting, wounding three Iraqi policeman and a U.S. soldier.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Militants staged a rare attack in southern Pakistan against trucks carrying supplies for NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan on Thursday, wounding three people in the latest violence to plague the country's largest city, police said. The militants attacked the trucks with guns and grenades just after midnight as they traveled on a main highway on the outskirts of Karachi, police official Mohammed Ali said.

#2: Also in Pakistan on Thursday, a bomb attached to a bicycle exploded, killing three people and wounding a dozen others in an area of Baluchistan province where nationalist insurgents have been active, police said. The blast occurred in Sohbatpur town, some 220 miles (360 kilometers) east of the provincial capital, Quetta, police official Syed Fareed Shah said.

#3: Foreign troops have killed an Afghan civilian prompting a small protest outside a U.S. military base in Kabul. A NATO statement said the civilian was killed Thursday in an incident involving a NATO convoy. It said NATO and Afghan officials are investigating the death. A few dozen demonstrators gathered outside Camp Phoenix, a U.S. base inside Kabul, to protest the killing. They dispersed after talking to police.

NATO troops in a convoy killed an Afghan cleric as he was driving Thursday in Kabul, officials and witnesses said, prompting a protest outside a U.S. military base. Police and witnesses said mosque preacher Mohammad Yunus, 36, was shot to death with his young son in the vehicle as he approached a main road from a side street. NATO reported only that foreign forces had killed a civilian in an incident involving a convoy, saying the circumstances surrounding the death were being jointly investigated with Afghan officials. The cleric was hit by four bullets and died on the way to the hospital, according to his son-in-law, Abdul Qadir, adding the family had taken the body to the province of Logar for burial. A shopkeeper who witnessed the shooting said the convoy was composed of American armored vehicles and was traveling on the main road in the direction of Jalalabad. A gunner in the first vehicle opened fire as Yunus began to pull onto the same road

#4: An Afghan official says 15 militants were killed in a joint air and ground assault with NATO forces in northern Afghanistan. "Fifteen Taliban militants were killed in joint operations conducted by NATO and Afghan forces Wednesday afternoon in Kuk Chenar district in central Baghlan," said Kabir Andarabi, the provincial police chief, a Press TV correspondent reported. A militant commander was killed when the compound in the area was hit in the assault, he said. However, Taliban claimed three Afghan forces were killed in the attack. Witnesses reported civilian casualties in the operation.

War News for Wednesday, January 27, 2010

U.S. military teams, intelligence deeply involved in aiding Yemen on strikes:

NATO, Kazakhstan agree on Afghan supply route:

Two Koreas trade fire:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi police say two people have been killed in a drive-by shooting targeting buses carrying Iranian Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad. Two police officials say gunmen in a speeding car opened fire Wednesday on the buses as they passed through a Sunni-dominated neighborhood in northwest Baghdad. The officials say an Iranian woman and a bus driver have been killed and that five pilgrims also have been injured. The buses were on their way to the shrine of Imam Mousa al-Kazim, a much revered Shiite saint.

#2: Three civilians were wounded on Tuesday by a sticky bomb explosion in northern Baghdad, a police source said on Wednesday. “A bomb, stuck to the car of Dr. Sawsan Abdulwahab, went off while passing Raghbat Khatoun neighborhood in al-Aadhamiya region, northern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast injured the doctor and two passing civilians and damaged the car,” he added.


Kut:
#1: Anti-explosives department managed to defuse two bombs targeting Shiite visitors in western Kut, a source from the department said on Wednesday. “The two bombs, planted on the road linking between Kut and al-Ahrar district, were defused by the anti-explosives squad,” he source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The bombs were targeting visitors of Imam al-Hussein’s Arbaeen,” he added. “The first bomb consists of a mortar shell tied with a remote, while the second bombs contains 10 kg of C4,” he explained.


Mosul:
#1: Four policemen and one civilian were wounded in a suicide bombing attack in northwest of Mosul, a security source said on Wednesday. “A suicide bomber blew up an explosive belt strapped to his body on Wednesday (Jan. 27) near a police station in Zamar district, northwest of Mosul, targeting a U.S. vehicle patrol, injuring four policemen and one civilian,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast caused no injuries among U.S. troops,” he added.

#2: Gunmen shot dead a local district official in eastern Mosul, police said.

#3: Gunmen killed one person in a crowded market in central Mosul, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A bomb planted near a house in northwestern Pakistan exploded Wednesday after children playing nearby tried to open it, killing three of them, said police. The blast partly destroyed the house in Nanger Khani village in Upper Dir, an area near Pakistan's volatile Afghan border, said police official Gul Zameen Khan. Police are investigating why the bomb was placed there, he said.

#2: Thirteen police and civilian explosives experts were wounded Wednesday when a homemade bomb they were trying to defuse in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir detonated, said police official Iftikhar Kiani. The explosives were hidden in a milk container planted on a road leading to a military base, he said. Two of the wounded men were transferred to the garrison town of Rawalpindi outside the capital, Islamabad, because of the serious nature of their injuries, said Kiani.

#3: Taliban fighters have killed a pro-government militia leader in northwest Pakistan's Bajaur district, where helicopters have been shelling insurgent hideouts, officials said Wednesday. The body of Malik Manaris Khan, 47, was found riddled with bullets early Wednesday in Salarzai town, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of Khar, the main city in Bajaur, which is in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. "He was kidnapped on Monday along with two other tribesmen. Today (Wednesday), we found his dead body," said Naseeb Shah, a local administrative official, blaming the Taliban movement for the abductions. "He was leading an anti-Taliban lashkar (militia) in his village."

#4: "Helicopter gunships have been shelling Taliban hideouts in Salarzai and the adjacent town of Mamoond since Tuesday," Shah said. Another government official said that the shelling had killed at least six militants and wounded another four in the last 24 hours. "We have reports that at least six militants were killed and four wounded. Helicopter gunships also destroyed several hideouts and some trenches," Firamosh Khan, an administrative official, told AFP by telephone.

#5: update A suicide car bomber struck a barrier outside a U.S. base in Kabul on Tuesday, wounding six Afghans and eight American troops. NATO forces confirmed a car bomb struck outside the main gate of Camp Phoenix, saying it was aimed at a civilian convoy that was entering the controlled checkpoint. Eight American service members suffered minor injuries, according to a statement.

#6: Five police were killed as a roadside bomb struck their van in Zabul province south of Afghanistan early Wednesday, a senior police commander Abdul Razaq said. "The gruesome incident occurred in Shamonzai district early today as a result five constables of Border Police Force were martyred," Razaq told Xinhua.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Jeremy M. Kane

DoD: Sgt. Daniel M. Angus

DoD: Lance Cpl. Timothy J. Poole

DoD: Lance Cpl. Zachary D. Smith

War News for Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Oakland Tribune is reporting a new death of a soldier which is not reported by the military. Army Sgt. Ryan Hopkins was found dead in his hospital bed at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas on Friday, January 8, 2010 after being injured during a fuel explosion caused by checking a vehicle’s fuel level with a cigarette lighter in Iraq on October 7, 2008.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in northern Afghanistan on Monday, January 25th. This is being reported as a Norwegian soldier, Claes Joachim Olsson who died four kilometers southeast of Ghowrmach, Badghis Province, Afghanistan.


Lawyer: FBI Concedes Aafia Siddiqui in US custody: From the mail bag-- another case of rendition -- whisker.

UK government adviser: Iraq war was illegal: Michael Wood - who was the chief legal adviser to the Foreign Office at the time of the 2003 invasion - told the inquiry Tuesday that he believed the use of force against Iraq in March 2003 was "contrary to international law" as it had not been authorized by the UN Security Council.

Officials tell AP Briton will be NATO Afghan boss: Two diplomatic officials say ambassador Mark Sedwill has been appointed to the post.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A suicide car bomber killed at least 18 and injured dozens more Tuesday in a strike against a police crime lab in central Baghdad. Rescue crews are still combing through the rubble looking for casualties. Officials say the majority of those killed were likely police officers who worked in the forensic investigation office at Tahariyat Square in the central neighborhood of Karradah. At least 82 people were reported injured. Police and hospital officials said the bomber in Tuesday's attack tried to drive a pickup truck through a checkpoint and blast walls protecting the forensic evidence office. Among those confirmed killed were 12 police officers and six civilians who were visiting the office. Officials said more than half the wounded were police.

#2: update Police and health officials say the death toll in Monday's suicide car bombings of three Baghdad hotels has risen to 41. The officials said on Tuesday that up to 106 people were wounded in the blasts, which struck in a span of 15 minutes. They targeted the Sheraton Ishtar Hotel, Babylon Hotel and Hamra Hotel, which are popular with Western journalists and foreign security contractors.

#3: Nine people were wounded when a militant threw a hand grenade onto a football pitch on Monday in Baghdad's Amil neighbourhood, police said.

#4: Two roadside bombs wounded five people on Monday in northern Baghdad's Adhamiya district on Monday, police said.


Yousifiya:
#1: Two civilians on Tuesday were injured in an explosive charge blast in southern Baghdad, a local police source said. “Today, a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in al-Yousifiya area, southern Baghdad, wounding two civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Tuesday abducted an employee working for the Health Department in southern Kirkuk, a source from the Joint Coordination Center said. “This morning, unknown gunmen driving an Opel Vectra without a number plate kidnapped a civilian in al-Hajaj neighborhood, southern Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The man was kidnapped while he was on his way to work, the source noted.

#2: Gunmen shot and killed two policemen on Monday in southern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: One woman and her daughter were killed by gunmen in eastern Mosul, a police source said on Monday. “The gunmen stormed their house in al-Zahraa neighborhood, eastern Mosul, and killed them using knives,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An improvised explosive device went off on Monday inside a restaurant in northern Mosul, a police source said. “The bomb exploded inside al-Nojoom restaurant in al-Majmouaa al-Thaqafiya region, northern Mosul, causing only some material damage,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The bomb was placed inside a plastic bag in the restaurant’s second floor,” he highlighted.

#3: One civilian was killed by gunmen in northern Mosul on Monday, according to a police source. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on a civilian inside his store in al-Sukar neighborhood, northern Mosul, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: One civilian was killed by gunmen in eastern Mosul, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen shot and killed a civilian on Monday (Jan. 25) in al-Maared region in eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#5: A former Iraqi army officer was killed by gunmen in western Mosul City, a local security source said on Tuesday. “This morning, unknown gunmen killed Staff Lt. Col. Faysal Mohammed Saleh, an officer in the former army, in al-Mosul al-Jadida area, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#6: One civilian on Tuesday was killed in an armed attack in western Mosul City, a local police source said. “On Tuesday, unknown gunmen opened fire on a civilian in al-Abar neighborhood, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Gunmen killed four Afghan policemen at a checkpoint near a provincial government building in an overnight attack in southern Afghanistan, an official said Tuesday.

#2: In eastern Kunar province Tuesday, a NATO airstrike killed several insurgents who were maneuvering into fighting position in an area previously used to stage attacks on international forces, the coalition said in a statement. Spokeswoman Maj. Virginia McCabe said the number of people killed was between five and 10 militants.

#3: Pakistani security forces have killed 15 militants in a gunfight in a remote tribal district near the Taliban strongholds of North and South Waziristan, the military said Tuesday. The clash took place after militants attacked a security checkpost on Monday in the Tindo area of Kurram tribal district, more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) southwest of the regional capital Peshawar. "Terrorists attacked a security forces post in Tindo area, which effectively retaliated," a statement from the paramilitary Frontier Corps said. "During an encounter between security forces and terrorists, 15 terrorists were killed and several others have been injured while eight security personnel received minor injuries," it added.

#4: A district police chief and six other persons were injured in a bomb attack in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Tuesday, police said. The bomb, attached to a motorcycle, was detonated with the help of remote control when police chief Syed Farid Ali was heading to his office in his official car in Jaffarabad, a city about 300 kilometers southeast of Quetta, the provincial capital.

#5: A loud explosion was heard in the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday, Reuters witnesses and security sources said, but the cause was not immediately clear. "There has been an explosion. We have sent our people to investigate. We are not sure of the cause or if there have been any casualties," a security official said.

A suicide car bomber struck near a U.S. military base in Afghanistan's capital Tuesday, Afghan officials said. At least five civilians were wounded in the attack, but it was unclear if anyone was killed, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said. The head of Kabul's criminal investigations unit confirmed that it was a suicide car bomber but said he was on his way to the scene and did not yet have further details.


MoD: Lance Corporal Daniel Cooper

War News for Monday, January 25, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier in an IED attack near Sangin, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Sunday, January 24th.

NATO is reporting the death of an American ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, January 24th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two more American soldiers in an attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, January 24th.


Iraq seals oil deal with Exxon Mobil, Shell group:

Iraq keeps banned bomb-detecting devices in use:

Pakistan’s Rebuff Over New Offensives Rankles U.S.

Afghanistan Postpones Parliamentary Election by 4 Months:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1-3: Iraqi police say three blasts have struck near three hotels in downtown Baghdad, killing at least 11 people. The officials say the blasts wounded at least 20 people.

#1: The first blast struck at about 3:40 p.m. near the Sheraton Hotel along Abu Nawas Street, just across the Tigris River from the Green Zone.

#2-3: The officials say two others struck near the Babylon Hotel and al-Hamra Hotel, which is popular with Western journalists.


Kut:
#1: Policemen found the body of a young man whose throat was slit with a knife and photos of his slaughter with the body, a security source in Wassit said on Sunday. “Reported kidnapped a couple of days ago, the young man, in his 20s, was found slain right in front of his house in the area of al-Falahiya, al-Kut city,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The police also found photos detailing the slaughter with the body,” he said, adding the corpse was removed to the al-Zahraa Hospital morgue in Kut.

#2: Security forces in Wassit defused on Monday a bomb that was planted in front of a local politician’s house in southern Kut. “The bomb is locally made,” a security source from the province told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two policemen were killed in the disputed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Monday, police told the German Press Agency dpa. The two were shot on their way to work in the Hay al-Wasti district shortly before dawn, police said, adding they believed the gunmen had used silencers.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Separately, the police discovered eight decomposed bodies buried in a mass grave outside Fallujah, the source added. "The bodies were badly decomposed because they have been buried for several years when the city was under control of insurgent groups," he said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A rocket has struck a military base in Afghanistan while the Bulgarian defense minister was visiting some of his country's troops stationed there.Four Bulgarian soldiers were wounded in the attack on the base at Kandahar. Reports say the rocket struck about 200 meters from Defense Minister Nikolay Mladenov and his delegation. None of the officials were hurt. Some 270 Bulgarian troops are based in Kandahar.

Four Bulgarian soldiers and as many Romanian soldiers have been wounded in the southern part in Afghanistan during a missile shelling of an ISAF base in Kandahar Province on Sunday night, a NATO representative reported on Monday.

#2: A suspected U.S. drone crashed in Pakistan's tribal region, a Pakistani intelligence official told CNN. The unmanned aircraft went down about 8 p.m. (10 a.m. ET) Sunday night near the village of Hamzoni in North Waziristan, the official said. Hamzoni is about 5 km (3 miles) west of Miran Shah, a town well-known for Taliban and al Qaeda activity. The official said he did not know whether the aircraft was shot down or if it crashed because of mechanical problems.

#3: The Taliban have freed four Afghans abducted in the north earlier this month along with two Chinese engineers, who remain in militant custody, a police official said Monday. Two Chinese engineers and their two Afghan drivers and two guards were snatched in the province of Faryab on January 16, and the Taliban militia claimed responsibility for the kidnapping the same day. Faryab deputy police chief Mohammad Afzal Imamzada told AFP that the Afghans were freed after negotiations, while similar talks were underway to secure the freedom of the Chinese pair. "The Afghans have been freed but the Chinese are still there. The Afghans were freed under negotiations by tribal elders and we're trying to secure the freedom of the Chinese through the same way," Imamzada said.

#4: Taliban militants in North Waziristan killed seven people on charges of spying for the US-led occupation forces in Afghanistan and threatened spies with similar punishment if they didn’t stop working for their enemy. Four of the slain people were stated to be local Wazir tribesmen while the three others were said to be Afghan nationals, all residents of Afghanistan’s troubled Khost province, which borders North Waziristan.

#5: Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked militants in the Kurram ethnic Pashtun tribal region on the Afghan border, killing 11 and wounding seven, government and security officials said. The assault followed a militant attack on a paramilitary force checkpost in which six soldiers were wounded.

#6: Police in Afghanistan's northern Saripul province discovered an explosive-laden minibus and thus foiled a terrorist attack on Monday, a private television channel reported. "A Minibus full of explosive device was intercepted by police in Saripul province today and thus thwarted a terrorist attack," Tolo broadcast in its news bulletin. Quoting local officials the television also said that two persons have been arrested in this regard.

#7: At least five people were injured in a blast in west Pakistan's Balochistan province on Monday, local TV channel reported. A loud blast rocked the central market of Panjgoor area of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, the private TV Express reported.


MoD: Rifleman Peter Aldridge

News of the Day for Sunday, January 14, 2010

A blindfolded suspected member of the Al Qaeda walks with a policeman after his arrest during a search and raid operation by the Iraqi investigation and criminal office in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad January 23, 2010. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed (I posted this photo because it is noteworthy that Iraqi police continue to conceal their faces. -- C)









Reported Security Incidents

Falluja

One policeman killed, 3 injured by IED attack.

Baghdad

Brig. Sahban Ali al-Waeli, an adviser to the Interior Ministry, died late Saturday of injuries suffered in a bomb attack on his house Friday night.

Mosul

Cab driver killed by a sticky bomb.

Other News of the Day

As British arrest Jim McCormick, managing director of ATSC, for selling fraudulent bomb detection advices to Iraq, Iraqi politicians begin to react. The New York Times reported as long ago as November that these devices, called the "ADE 651" which are hand-held devices purported to be able to detect explosives, are completely useless. Astonishingly, the company claims that they use principles similar to "dowsing" for water, which is of course equally nonsensical. Yet Iraqi security forces rely on them extensively at checkpoints. In spite of the British action, Iraq has yet to halt use of the devices. It is disturbing to think that this British psychopath may have contributed to the success of the massive attacks on Iraqi government infrastructure in order to enrich himself. Riyadh Mohammed reports from Baghdad:

''This company not only caused grave and massive losses of funds, but it has caused grave and massive losses of the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians, by the hundreds and thousands, from attacks that we thought we were immune to because we have this device,'' said Ammar Tuma, a member of the Iraqi parliament's security and defence committee.

But the Ministry of the Interior has not withdrawn the devices from service, and police continue to use them at checkpoints throughout Baghdad.

Iraqi officials said they would begin an investigation into why their Government paid around $US85 million ($A94 million) to the British company, ATSC Ltd, for at least 800 of the bomb detectors.

Eleven bodies, apparently dating to 2007, found in a mass grave near Falluja.

U.S. Marines hand over responsibility for Anbar Province to the U.S. Army, prepare to withdraw from Iraq. The Marines are constituted as a rapid deployment force with a mission of quickly seizing territory, but the shortage of forces after the U.S. invasion of Iraq forced them into an occupation role in Anbar.

Meanwhile, however, many analysts fear that gains in security may be lost if political reconciliation between sects fails, as may well be happening. IRIN reports:

A government move to exclude a number of prominent Sunni candidates from national parliamentary elections on 7 March could re-ignite sectarian violence and create a new humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country, according to some analysts.

"Iraq is on the verge of another humanitarian crisis if the current political situation continues to worsen between the political parties or between Sunnis and Shia over participation in the coming elections," Mohammed Abdul-Aziz Jassim, a political sciences lecturer at the University of Anbar, told IRIN. "Almost all Iraq's humanitarian challenges since 2003 [when the US-led invasion began], such as displacement, poor public services and social problems, are the result of the political and sectarian strife that led to a deteriorated security situation," he said.

In mid-January, a committee tasked by the government to prohibit former members of Saddam Hussein's disbanded Baath Party from government jobs decided to exclude 511 Sunni and Shia candidates from the polls. Although the majority of those on the list are reportedly Shia, they do not have the political clout or tribal standing that the barred Sunnis have, analysts say.

Sunnis are particularly angered that prominent Sunni lawmaker Salih Al-Mutlak is among those excluded. Al-Mutlak's involvement in the political process was instrumental in turning the tide against the insurgency, say analysts.

U.S. VP Joe Biden says Iraq elections must be "fair, credible and transparent" but says the U.S. will not intervene in the issue of banned candidates, according to Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. "President Barack Obama and I strongly support the implementation of Article 7 (of Iraq's constitution) that prohibits the Baath party," the vice president said, according to the statement.

DoD identifies a soldier who died in a motor vehicle crash in Mosul on January 20 as Pfc. Gifford E. Hurt, 19, of Yonkers, N.Y.

Ammar al Hakim, head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (the largest Shiite faction) is in Lebanon, where he met with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. (I'm sure the Neocons are loving that. -- C)

Afghanistan Update

NATO reports the deaths of 3 U.S. military personnel in two separate bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan. No further details at this time.

Afghanistan postpones elections for four months, from May to September, citing budgetary, security and logistical problems. I'm sure everything will be just peachy by September. -- C

Pakistan Foreign Office says it is "reaching out to Afghan Taliban. "We don't want to discuss the specifics. There are efforts being made and we are trying to win over those Taliban are reconcilable," Spokesman Abdul Basit said in a press briefing Saturday.

Hamid Karzai is in Turkey to attend a three-way summit of Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Quote of the Day

The fact that the administration's disinformation campaign was entirely successful is evidenced by an October 2004, Harris Poll, taken three weeks before the last presidential election, which reported that 62% of all voters, and 84% of those planning to vote for Bush, still believed that Saddam had ''strong links" to Al Qaeda, and that 41% of all voters, and 52% of Bush backers, believed that Saddam had ''helped plan and support the hijackers" who had attacked the country on 9/11. As we now know, the basis for these allegations were false but the saddest part of the situation is that many Americans are just now beginning to realize that Bush knew the stories were false for more than a year when he cited them as justification for taking the country to war.

Evelyn Pringle

War News for Saturday, January 23, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier in an IED attack in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Friday, January 22nd.

The Washington Post is reporting the deaths of two American soldiers in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, January 23rd.


C.I.A. Deaths Prompt Surge in U.S. Drone Strikes:

US Marine Corps ends role in Iraq:Saudi:

Bodies of 20 soldiers found on Yemen border:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Police found 10 bombs planted on a school bus in the Mansour district of western Baghdad, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb targeting a car carrying a brigadier general of the Interior Ministry, Sahban Ali, wounded him and two of his bodyguards near his house in Zayouna district, eastern Baghdad, on Friday night, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol wounded two soldiers in the Yarmouk district of western Baghdad on Friday night, police said


Mosul:
#1: Policemen on Saturday found the remains of three persons in northern Mosul city, according to a police source in Ninewa. “The remains of bodies of three persons who had been kidnapped and killed in 2007 were found buried in the area of al-Rashidiya, northern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Gunmen killed a civilian in front of his house in western Mosul city on Saturday, said a local security source from Ninewa province. “Gunmen in a vehicle opened drive-by fire on the civilian in front of his house at al-Tanak neighborhood,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: One policeman was wounded on Saturday when two mortars hit a police command headquarters in western Mosul city, a local police source in Ninewa said. “The attack targeted Umm-al-Rabiain police command HQ at al-Sheikh Fatihee area,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A civilian man was wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in al-Haqlaniya district, western al-Anbar province, on Saturday, a local security source said. “A sticky IED attached to a civilian vehicle went off on a road in Haqlaniya, injuring the driver and causing damage to the vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Militants hiding among demonstrators fired on police Saturday, sparking a gunbattle in the middle of a protest over the deaths of four men in a NATO-Afghan raid, officials said. At least two people were wounded. Protesters have taken to the streets for three straight days and have blocked traffic on a highway that links the major cities of Kabul and Kandahar, forcing trucks and vehicles to wait for hours. The protest Saturday turned violent when armed militants hiding in the crowd began shooting at police, according to the district's chief administrator, Yasouf Saraji Andar. "Policemen also opened fire to defend themselves and two people were wounded," he said.

#2: North of the capital, a NATO helicopter was damaged Saturday when its front rotor blade accidentally struck the ground upon landing in the Parwan province. There were no injuries and no hostile action was involved, the international force said.

#3: A provincial governor also escaped an assassination attempt Friday while traveling to inspect a school southwest of Kabul, but four Afghan soldiers in his convoy were killed in the bombing, a spokesman said. Halim Fidai, the governor of Wardak province, was on his way to the school after meeting with elders in the Jagatu district when the roadside bomb exploded.
The governor was unharmed, but four Afghan soldiers in a different vehicle were killed and another was wounded, according to the governor's spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, who also was in the convoy.

#4: A policeman was killed and another wounded in a gunbattle after suspected Taliban militants ambushed a checkpoint in the Baghlan province, according to the provincial government.

#5: Militants kidnapped a district police chief and two other officers on a nighttime foot patrol Saturday near the eastern border with Pakistan, a senior official said, the latest in a series of attacks against Afghan officials linked to the fight against the Taliban. A search was under way for Jamtullah Khan and two of his men after they were seized in the Shigal district of Kunar province just after 1 a.m., according to the provincial police chief. Gen. Khalilullah Zaiyie said reinforcements had been sent to help with the manhunt.

#6: Militants ambushed Pakistani security forces at checkpoints near the Afghan border Saturday, sparking gunbattles that left 22 insurgents and two troops dead, officials said.

#7: Government officials Mohammad Yasin and Mohammad Naseem said two more troops were wounded in clashes at checkpoints in the Orakzai and Kurram tribal regions. (pakistan)

#8: Elsewhere in the northwest, meanwhile, a suicide bomber killed a police officer and wounded two civilians, police said. (pakistan)

#9: Taliban militants on Saturday attacked and destroyed a fuel tanker in northwest Pakistan supplying NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan, police said. A group of 15 armed militants ambushed the truck outside Peshawar and opened fire. "They ordered the driver and the assistant to get down and set the tanker on fire early Saturday morning," senior police official Mohammad Karim Khan told AFP.

#10: Elsewhere, gunmen on a motorbike shot dead two soldiers on Saturday in the oil and gas rich Baluchistan province, which is in the grip of a tribal insurgency and violence linked to Taliban militants, officials said. The incident took place in Khuzdar town, 350 kilometres (217 miles) south of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. "Two armed gunmen chased four army personnel, who were travelling in a vehicle and sprayed bullets on them in a market in Khuzdar, killing two of them and wounding two others," district police chief Nazir Ahmad Kurd said.

#10: Three Afghan women were killed and three other civilians were wounded by insurgent small-arms fire while in a taxi in southeastern Paktika province, the NATO-led force said. The taxi driver brought the wounded to a NATO-led base where they received medical treatment, it said.

#11: Afghan and international forces killed 12 Taliban militants during an operation in the Gereshk district of southern Helmand province on Friday night, district governor Abdul Ahad said.

#12: Two women were wounded when a mortar bomb fired by Pakistani troops at a militant hideout fell on a house in Mohmand, another Pashtun region on the Afghan border, witnesses and government officials said. (pakistan)


DoD: Staff Sgt. Thaddeus S. Montgomery

DoD: Capt. Paul Pena

War News for Friday, January 22, 2010

MNF-Iraq (OIF) is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier from non-combat related vehicle accident in an undisclosed location in Iraq on Wednesday, January 20th.


US to supply Pakistan with 12 Shadow drones:

NWFP govt. sacks 30 employees over Taliban links:

Yemeni soldier killed in gunmen attack:

More Finnish Troops to Afghanistan:

German minister hints at Afghan troop increase:

Romania to send 600 more troops to Afghanistan:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a lieutenant of the interior ministry’s police affairs department in Baghdad al-Jadieda region in northeastern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: “Another police lieutenant was killed by an armed group while driving his private car in al-Sidiya neighborhood in southern Baghdad,” the same source added.


Hilla:
#1: A policeman was killed on Thursday in a roadside bomb blast in the northwest of Hilla, a police source said. “The bomb, planted on the main road in Jarf al-Sakhr district, northwest of Hilla, went off targeting a police vehicle patrol, killing the driver and destroying the vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diwaniya:
#1: Najaf governor survived an attempt on his life on Friday when a roadside bomb went off targeting his motorcade in Diwaniya, a media official said. “A roadside bomb went off on Friday (Jan. 22) targeting the motorcade of Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zerfi while visiting the city of Diwaniya,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The governor survived the attack,” he asserted, noting that the blast left no casualties.


Hawija:
#1: An Iraqi soldier was wounded in an improvised explosive device attack southwest of Kirkuk city on Thursday, according to the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD) chief. “An IED went off near an Iraqi army patrol inside al-Huweija district, (65 km) southwest of Kirkuk, leaving a soldier wounded and the vehicle damaged,” Brig. Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Two civilians were wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack that targeted policemen in western Mosul city on Thursday, a local security force in Ninewa said. “The IED blast targeted a police patrol in the area of al-Zanjili, western Mosul, leaving two civilians wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “One of the two men was wounded due to the random fire opened by the police while the other was injured in the blast,” the source added.

#2: Iraqi army forces shot dead a suicide bomber who was driving a truck bomb that went off partially west of Mosul city on Thursday, according to an army source. “The bomber was planning to detonated his truck laden with explosives near the headquarters of an Iraqi army company in the district of al-Biaaj, west of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The truck bomb went off partially. The bomber tried to escape but Iraqi soldiers shot him down,” the source said, adding “an officer in the rank of lieutenant was injured in the incidents”.

#3: An attacker wounded two people when he hurled a hand grenade into a pharmacy on Thursday in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#4: A roadside bomb exploded outside the home of a Christian family, wounding a child, in central Mosul, on Thursday, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Pakistani army helicopters opened fire on a car in North Waziristan on Friday, killing one person in a region where the U.S. is pressing for action against al-Qaida and the Taliban, intelligence officials said. Two other people in the vehicle were wounded in the attack on the outskirts of Miran Shah town, the officials said. The identity of the victims was not known. The officials said the car, which had left the compound of the Tablighi Jemaat Islamic missionary group in the town, was targeted because it violated a curfew. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of their work.

Pakistani forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked a militant hideout in a major al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary on the Afghan border on Friday, killing two militants, officials said. “An intense exchange of fire is going on between militants and the security forces,” said an intelligence official in the region who declined to be identified.Residents said authorities had imposed a curfew as security forces attacked the militants on the outskirts of Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan. Two militants had been killed, another security official said.

#2: On Thursday, the Pakistani army said it cannot launch any new offensives in the border area for at least six months so it can consolidate gains against militants there in other operations over the last year.


DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Michael P. Shannon

War News for Thursday, January 21, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an American ISAF soldier from a non-hostile related injuries in an un disclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, January 20th. The Pocono Record is reporting that Sgt. 1st Class Michael P. Shannon died of a heart attack on Sunday, January 17th.


How an Inflammatory Term, Baathist, Bars Candidates in Iraq:

Dutch General in Afghanistan slams critics:

NATO planning civilian boss in Afghan:

Taliban Overhaul Image in Bid to Win Allies:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Three persons were killed and seven others were wounded during clashes that broke out following an armed robbery in Baghdad, the Iraqi police said on Wednesday. “This evening, unknown gunmen broke into a jewelry store in al-Bonook neighborhood, northeastern Baghdad, and killed two persons inside,” a police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Police forces arrived at the scene of the robbery and engaged in clashes with the gunmen, the source pointed out. One policeman was killed, while six civilians and a gunman were wounded in the clashes, the source noted.The other gunmen have managed to escape, the source added.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Wednesday A booby trapped motorcycle exploded in the main marketplace in Baladruz district, 40 km to the east of Baquba, killing one civilian and injuring four others.


Diwaniya:
#1: Police forces defused on Wednesday a roadside bomb in west of Diwaniya, local police chief said.

Hilla:
#1: One police officer died and five others were injured in an explosion caused by a device planted in a police car in the Masib area of the city of Halla, around 100 kilometres south of Baghdad.


Balad:
#1: Three missiles have been fired at a U.S. airbase in Balad district, a local police source said on Wednesday. “This evening, three missiles were fired from an unknown location at the U.S. Anaconda base, previously known as al-Bakr, in Yathrib district, eastern Balad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Plumes of smoke were seen in the sky after the attack, the source noted.


Kirkuk:
#1: An improvised explosive device went off on Thursday in central Kirkuk targeting a vehicle of director of the Kirkuk health department, without causing casualties, a senior police officer said. “The bomb exploded this morning (Jan. 21) in al-Kourniesh street in central Kirkuk, targeting a vehicle of the director of the Kirkuk health department, Dr. Sabah al-Ameer,” Colonel Taha Salah el-Din told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen killed an Iraqi army colonel near his house in the country's north, marking the third deadly attack in a day on members of security forces in the area. The victim's cousin, Nafaa Khudir, identified the officer Thursday as Col. Salih Ahmed al-Ukaydi of the Iraqi Army's 2nd division. He said the father of seven was headed on foot to visit a friend near Namrood, a mostly Sunni village about 18 miles (30 kilometers) south of Mosul, when he was shot by the unidentified gunmen around 10 p.m. Wednesday.

#2-3: The shooting came hours after two off-duty policemen were killed in Mosul.

#2: One policeman was killed when a sticky improvised explosive device (IED) went off in southern Mosul, a local police source said on Wednesday. “At noon, a sticky explosive charge detonated inside a car belonging to a policeman in Wadi Hajar area, southern Mosul, killing him on the spot,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: One policeman was killed in a popular café in downtown Mosul City, a local security source said on Wednesday. “This afternoon, an intelligence policeman was killed by gunmen in a popular café in Bab Lakash area, downtown Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Wednesday blew up the house of a policeman in southern Falluja City, a local security source said. “The blast destroyed a large part of the house, but no casualties were reported,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An improvised explosive device exploded in southern Ramadi on Thursday, without causing casualties, a police source said. “The bomb went off in al-Sekak region, southern Ramadi, targeting a police vehicle patrol,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: NATO said Thursday that four insurgents were killed during a raid southwest of Kabul, but villagers insisted the dead were civilians. Witnesses said foreign troops descended the Qara Bagh district of Ghazni province in helicopters and stormed two houses at about 10 p.m. Wednesday. They killed a father and his two sons along with a neighbour even though they weren't armed, according to Musa Jalali and other residents of the Baram village. NATO denied any civilians were harmed in Wednesday's action. It said the raid was a joint operation with Afghan forces targeting a high-level Taliban commander who has organized attacks against Afghan and NATO troops and helped smuggle foreign fighters in the area. Jalali, however, said the slain father worked for a cellphone company and everybody knew him to be a good man. He said he believed a tipster had lied to NATO to provoke the raid against the man, a common complaint among Afghans who believe people use foreign forces to carry out grudges.

#2: Afghan soldiers confiscated heroin and opium from a vehicle trying to bypass a checkpoint in Afghanistan’s Helmand province yesterday, military officials reported. When Afghan soldiers tried to detain the driver, he accelerated the vehicle dragging a soldier along. Fellow soldiers fired warning shots and attempted to fire vehicle-disabling shots. When that didn’t work, the soldiers fired lethal shots into the vehicle wounding the driver, who later died of his wounds.

#3: A roadside bomb apparently targeting anti-Taliban elders killed three people and injured 22 others on Thursday in Pakistan's northwest tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, officials said. The explosion hit their bus in Salarzai district in the tribal region of Bajaur, a day after a similar bomb planted in the road injured a provincial parliamentarian in the northwest capital Peshawar. “It was an improvised explosive device which exploded as the bus headed to the region's main town of Khar,” local government official Mazhar Ali said. “One woman was killed while 22 other passengers were wounded.” Senior administration official Abdul Kabir later said that “two others succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.”

#4: Also in Bajaur, two Taliban militants were killed when a bomb they were preparing exploded in Savaei village, local official Farooq Khan said.

#5: In northwest Swat valley, meanwhile, at least five militants were killed in a gunfight which erupted near the town of Madyan, officials said. “The gunfight started when militants opened fire at a military convoy passing through the area,” a local military spokesman told AFP.

#6: At least nine militants including a key commander were killed as gunship helicopters pounded a militant hideout in northwest Pakistan's Mohmand Agency on Thursday, local TV channel reported. Official sources said the air strike was carried out when the militants were holding an important meeting in Shandara village of Baizai Tehsil, the private TV Express reported

#7: On the same day Wednesday, the troops raided Taliban hideouts in Sabari district of the neighboring Khost province and arrested five Taliban fighters, including their local commander Mullah Habibullah, a senior military officer in the province General Zahir Wardak told Xinhua. Taliban outfit has yet to make comment.


DoD: Spc. Robert Donevski

DoD: Tech. Sgt. Adam K. Ginett

War News for Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Staff Sgt. Anton R. Phillips died of an unreported cause at at Forward Operating Base Methar Lam, Laghman province, Afghanistan on Thursday, December 31st.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two American ISAF soldiers in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, January 19th.


Deployment and Use of Mental Health Services Among U.S. Army Wives:

After Attack, Afghans Question Motives or See Conspiracies:

Rare IED success: MRAPs cut U.S. death rate in Afghanistan:

According to figures compiled by The Guardian newspaper in London, the Canadians have had 5.1 percent of their total deployed force killed in action since 2006. The British have lost 3.6 percent and the Americans 2.5 percent.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A mortar shells landed on Tuesday near the U.S. embassy inside the Green Zone, an eyewitness said. “A mortar shell, launched from an unknown place, landed today near the U.S. embassy in the fortified Green Zone, with no word on casualties,” the witness told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Sirens kept wailing in the regions after the attack, while U.S. choppers hovered over the eastern regions of Baghdad,” he added.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Emergency police forces arrested on Wednesday three gunmen while planting a bomb in north of Baaquba, a security source said. “Emergency police forces arrested on Wednesday (Jan. 20) three gunmen while planting a bomb on Imam Wes-Saadiya road, north of Baaquba, and confiscated three Kalashnikovs and two bombs inside their car,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: Early Wednesday, a roadside bomb struck a patrol in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk, killing a police lieutenant, a police official said. Two also were wounded in the attack 180 miles (290 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, he added.


Mosul:
#1: A car bomb has targeted an Iraqi army base in the restive city of Mosul, leaving at least 20 security forces and 10 civilians wounded. The attack occurred around 10.00 a.m. (0700 GMT) in the east of the city, 350 kilometers (218 miles) north of Baghdad, AFP reported. An Iraqi military official said 15 soldiers and five policemen were among the wounded.

#2: A second bomb was discovered in downtown Mosul, a second official said, but it was dismantled by security forces.

#3: Unknown gunmen opened fire on a U.S. vehicle patrol in south of Mosul, a police source said.
“Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 19) on a U.S. vehicle patrol in al-Shoura district, south of Mosul, and fled to unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The attack left no casualties,” he added.

#4: An improvised explosive device was detonated on Tuesday (Jan. 19) in front of the house of a former employee of the customs department in dourat al-Yarmouk in western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, pointing out that the explosion caused only some material damage to the house.

#5: “A sticky bomb exploded on Tuesday evening (Jan. 19) near the house of a civilian in al-Arabi neighborhood, northern Mosul,” the same source added. “The explosion left no casualties, but some material damage to the house,” he said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban militants ambushed a police convoy in Ghazni province of southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing three people and wounding a police commander and his two sons, provincial police chief Khayalbaz Shirzai said. "Armed militants ambushed motorcade of Rasul Khan when he was on the way to provincial capital this morning, injuring him along with his two sons who served as policemen," he told Xinhua. A policeman and two Taliban militants were also killed in the firefighting lasting for a while, he added.

#2: A Pakistani politician was among four people wounded by a bomb which exploded on Wednesday in the key city of Peshawar, the gateway to the Khyber pass and Afghanistan, police said. The politician, Aurangzeb Khan, is a member of an ethnic Pashtun-based party that is part of the ruling coalition. Khan was being drived along a road in Peshawar when the bomb exploded. "He has been wounded but he is not serious. But his driver and a guard have been critically wounded," said Arbab Tahir, an official of Khan's Awami National Party (ANP).

#3: Missiles fired by a suspected US drone aircraft have killed at least five people in north-west Pakistan, security officials said. The attack targeted a compound in the Deegan area, 30km (19 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, on the Afghan border. Officials said all those killed in the strike were militants.

#4: At least one soldier of Pakistani army was killed and eight others sustained injuries on Wednesday when a remote controlled bomb exploded in Odinsar area of South Waziristan, the tribal belt of Pakistan, local TV channels reported.

#5: Afghan forces have killed four militants and detained seven others over the past 24 hours in the war-torn country, a press release of Defense Ministry said Wednesday. These insurgents were killed and arrested in Kandahar, Kunduz, Logar and Kabul provinces during cleanup operations to stabilize security, according to the press release. There were no casualties on the troops, it stressed.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Anton R. Phillips

War News for Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Reconciliation with Taliban in Afghanistan unlikely: Gates

PM confirms NZ troops involved in Taliban attack:

Gunmen in northwestern Iran assassinate prosecutor:

Pakistani soldier killed in border skirmish:

The Rise and Fall of a Sunni in Baghdad:


Reported security incidents

Riyadh:
#1: A joint patrol killed on Monday a gunman in southwest of the city of Kirkuk on Monday, according to a senior police officer. “A gunman opened fire on a joint patrol of police and U.S. forces on Monday (Jan. 18) near Riyadh district, southwest of Kirkuk,” Brig. Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: This morning, an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near the tax department in northern Kirkuk, causing no casualties or damage,” Brig. Sarhad Qadir told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Meanwhile, police patrols and bomb squad personnel have headed to the scene of the blast and managed to safely defuse another device.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Police forces have safely defused a sticky improvised explosive device (IED) found inside a civilian vehicle in northern Anbar, a local security source said on Tuesday. “Bomb squad personnel have defused the device in al-Sajar area, northern Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: update Five people, including a child, police officer and an Afghan soldier, in addition to seven Taliban members were killed in series of attacks in Afghan capital. Another 71 people were injured, including 35 civilians in Monday's armed battle between Taliban fighters and Afghan security forces, the public health ministry said.

#2: Clashes elsewhere in west Afghanistan claimed the lives of over a dozen insurgents and two policemen, police chief in the western region Ikramudin Yawar said on Tuesday. "Police forces ambushed Taliban fighters in Bakwa district of western Farah province Monday killing eight rebels and injuring six others," yawar told Xinhua.

#3: He also said that militants stormed a police checkpoint in Balamirghab district of Badghis province on the same day (Monday) and killed a police constable. However, he insisted that police returned fire and eliminated five militants.

War News for Monday, January 18, 2010

The DND/CF is reporting the death of a Canadian ISAF soldier in and IED attack in the Panjwayi district, Khandahar province, Afghanistan on Saturday, January 16th.

NATO is reporting the death of an American ISAF soldier during an engagement with insurgents in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, January 16th.


Pak may fence 2,250-mile border with Afghanistan:

US drones unlikely to break militants in long term:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi army officer and a civilian were wounded in an explosive charge blast in downtown Baghdad, a police source said on Monday. “A sticky improvised explosive device (IED) detonated inside a civilian Land cruiser driven by an army lieutenant in al-Allawi area, downtown Baghdad, wounding the officer and a civilian who was close to the scene of the blast,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Unknown gunmen shot dead five aide workers at a humanitarian agency building in northern Baghdad on Monday, an Interior Ministry source said. Unidentified armed men stormed a humanitarian agency headquarters in the neighborhood of Adhamiyah and shot dead five of its workers and fled the scene after they left a booby-trapped car at the site, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The car bomb went off after the Iraqi security forces arrived at the scene, wounding two soldiers, the source said.

#3: A bomb attached to a car wounded two people in Mashtal district, eastern Baghdad, on Sunday night, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Four civilians on Monday were injured in an explosive charge blast in al-Saadiya district, a local police source said. “On Monday, an improvised explosive device hit a civilian vehicle on Mandali-al-Saadiya road (100 km north of Baaquba), wounding four passengers,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Three brothers from the Mjamma'i tribe were handcuffed, blindfolded and executed on their doorstep when their home was raided by an unknown group of around thirty men dressed in military uniforms in Kharab village, Buhruz district, 4 km to the south of Baquba at 2 a.m. Sunday.

#3: A motorcycle bomb placed outside police headquarters killed one policeman and wounded five others in Muqdadiya, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Police found the body of a woman with bullet wounds to the head and chest in the south of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, on Sunday night, police said.

#2: A shepherd was wounded when a mine dating back to the days of Saddam Hussein exploded north of Kirkuk on Sunday, police said


Mosul:
#1: A Christian citizen was shot down by gunmen fire in northern Mosul city on Sunday, a local police source in Ninewa said. “Gunmen in a vehicle opened drive-by fire on a Christian citizen near his home in al-Majmouaa al-Thaqafiya area, northern Mosul, and then escaped to an unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: “Gunmen shot down a civilian man in his 50s at the gate of his home in Hadirat al-Sada, central Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: “Another civilian man was shot dead by gunmen fire in al-Karama neighborhood, eastern Mosul,” he added.

#4: A bank employee has been wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on him in western Mosul, a local police source said on Monday. “This morning, a group of gunmen opened fire on a bank employee in al-Mosul al-Jadeeda area,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#5: A Christian has been shot down by gunmen in northern Mosul, the second attack on Christians in the city in less than 24 hours, a security source said on Monday. “At noon, unknown gunmen broke into a food store owned by a Christian man in al-Sadeeq neighborhood, northern Mosul, and opened fire on him,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#6: Three gunmen on Monday were arrested after attacking a police patrol vehicle in western Mosul, according to a local security source. “The gunmen threw a hand grenade at a patrol vehicle in al-Aamel neighborhood, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Emergency police forces chased the gunmen and arrested them in the same neighborhood, the source pointed out.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A bomb attached to a car killed two people, including a policeman, in central Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban militants struck in the heart of the Afghan capital Monday, launching suicide attacks on key government targets. The Defense Ministry said seven attackers had also been killed in the brazen attack. Explosions and heavy machine-gun fire rattled the city for hours. Debris was strewn on the streets, which were quickly abandoned by crowds that normally fill the area. Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said a child and a policeman were killed. The Ministry of Public Health later said five people — a civilian and four security forces — were killed and 30 others wounded.

The first blast was heard shortly before 10 a.m. in an area where government buildings are concentrated, including the presidential palace, the central bank and the luxury Serana Hotel, which is frequented by Westerners. Azimi said a rocket slammed into the street near the bank's gate, but there were conflicting reports that the area had been struck by a suicide bomber or grenades. Mohib Safi, the bank's deputy governor, said employees heard a strong explosion followed by gunfire. He said employees were safely inside and that no militants had entered the building. Police sealed off a large area in the center of Kabul as the clash of machine-gun fire echoed through the mountain-rimmed city. Helicopters buzzed overhead. A car that exploded between a shopping center and the Ministry of Education burned in the street. Fighting raged for more than three hours and one four-story shopping center near the Justice Ministry was engulfed in flames after a group of militants entered the building, throwing grenades inside to frighten shoppers, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Zemari Bashary. Two suicide bombers later detonated their explosives and Afghan troops killed two other militants in the mall, Bashary said. He said other militants were holed up on the top floor, but officials later said the building had been cleared.

Elsewhere in the capital, Afghan troops also surrounded an area housing a well-known cinema and opened fire on militants believed hiding inside. A police officer at the site, Ghulam Ghaus, said the fighting ended after the last suicide attacker inside blew himself up. It wasn't clear how many others were in the building.

#2: Two Chinese engineers and four Afghans have been kidnapped by gunmen in northwestern Afghanistan, an official said Monday. The six men were seized late Saturday while traveling back to their base after a day working on a road construction project, according to Abdul Sattar Barez, the deputy provincial governor of Faryab province. Saturday's abduction occurred in Faryab province.


MoD: Corporal Lee Brownson

MoD: Rifleman Luke Farmer

DND/CF: Sergeant John Wayne