War News for Friday, February 12, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF in an IED attack the Babaji district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Thursday, February 11th.


Iraq sets up new oil player:

Ex-employees sue Blackwater, allege overbillilng:

Taliban vow guerrilla warfare against Afghan, NATO troops:

Afghans Try to Reassure Tribal Elders on Offensive:

US and Afghan troops ring Taliban stronghold:

Russia says 20 killed in battle near Chechnya:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Five persons were wounded on Friday in an improvised explosive device explosion in northeastern Baghdad, a police source said. “The bomb, planted by gunmen near al-Sada al-Naeem mosque in al-Shaab neighborhood, northeastern Baghdad, went off targeting a police vehicle patrol, injuring three policemen and two civilians and damaging the vehicle,” the source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Missan Prv:
#1: U.S. troops killed seven persons, from the same family, wounded two more and arrested 12 citizens in north of Amara, director of the Ali al-Sharqi district said. “U.S. forces waged a crackdown operation in al-Duwayjat village in Ali al-Sharqi district in Missan, where they killed seven persons, from one family, and injured two others,” Ammar Abdullah told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The forces arrested 12 persons during the operation,” he added. “The Missan council will hold an urgent meeting this afternoon to discuss the incident,” he said. No word was immediately available from the U.S. army on the incident.

The death toll of the U.S. raid in al-Duwayjat village in north of Amara rose to 10, Amara mayor said on Friday. “The death toll of the U.S. raid in al-Duwayjat village in Ali al-Sharqi district, north of Amara, rose to ten as three persons died of their wounds,” Rafia Abduljabar told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops killed at least five people on Friday in a raid on suspected members of what Washington calls an Iranian-backed terrorist group, the U.S. military said. The firefight with suspected members of Kata'ib Hizballah, a group that the U.S. State Department says has ties to Lebanon's Hezbollah, occurred 265 km (165 miles) southeast of Baghdad in a village near the Iranian border. Twelve people were arrested. "The joint security team was fired upon by individuals dispersed in multiple residential buildings ... members of the security team returned fire, killing individuals assessed to be enemy combatants," the U.S. military said in a statement. "While the number of casualties has not yet been confirmed, initial reports indicate five individuals were killed," it said without specifying who was killed in the raid. Maitham Laftah, a member of the provincial council of Maysan province, said 10 people were killed, including two women, and five people wounded in the village 75 km (46 miles) north of the city of Amara. Eleven people were arrested, he said.


Tuz Khurmayo:
#1: A civilian man was wounded in an improvised explosive device blast in Touz Khormato district. “An IED blast wounded a civilian man in the village of al-Qahira,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency


Mosul:
#1: A young man was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in northern Mosul blast on Thursday, a local police source in Ninewa said. “The 17-year-old civilian young man was killed when it went off near him as his friend who found out the charge rushed to notify an Iraqi army unit that was near the scene,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A policeman was killed when gunmen attacked a checkpoint in western Mosul city on Thursday, a local police source in Ninewa said. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire at the policemen in the area of Mosul al-Jadida, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The victim was inside the checkpoint when the gunmen emerged from the alleys of the neighborhood and waged their attack before escaping to an unknown place,” he added.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Three people, from one family, were wounded on Friday when their house exploded in south of Falluja, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen on Friday morning (Feb. 12) blew up a house of a policeman in Albu Hawa village in al-Aamiriya district, south of Falluja, injuring three of his family,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, pointing out that they were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban forces claimed responsibility Friday for an attack by a suicide bomber on a U.S. military base near the Pakistani border that injured five Americans. The attack occurred after sundown in a barracks at a U.S. facility in the Dand aw Patan district in Paktia province, about 35 miles (70 kilometers) east of the provincial capital Gardez, according to provincial government spokesman Roullah Samoun. A U.S. statement said "several" U.S. service members were injured in an explosion at a joint U.S.-Afghan outpost in Paktia but gave no further details.
The attack occurred about 400 miles (640 kilometers) northeast of the Taliban town of Marjah in southern Afghanistan which is under siege by U.S. and Afghan troops.

#2: A joint Afghan-NATO force killed several insurgents during a raid on a compound where troops discovered the bodies of two men and two bound and gagged women, NATO said Friday. Family members accused U.S. soldiers of killing innocent civilians. Afghan officials in Paktia province confirmed Friday they are investigating the deaths of five people in a home near the provincial capital of Gardez. Police Chief Gen. Azizudin Wardak said the five — two men and three women — were killed Thursday night during a party. One of the men worked for the police, while the second man worked for the attorney general's office, he said. "Who killed them? We still don't know," he said, adding the investigation is under way.

A man who identified himself as Hamidullah said he had been in the home as some 20 people gathered to celebrate the birth of a son when a group of men he described as "U.S. special forces" surrounded the compound. When one man came out into the courtyard to ask why, Hamidullah said he watched U.S. forces gun him down. "Daoud was coming out of the house to ask what was going on. And then they shot him," he said. Then they killed a second man, Hamidullah said. The rest of the group were forced out into the yard, made to kneel and had their hands bound behind their back, he said, breaking off crying without giving any further details. A deputy provincial council member in Gardez, Shahyesta Jan Ahadi, said news of the operation has inflamed the local community that believes the Americans were responsible for the deaths. "Last night, the Americans conducted an operation in a house and killed five innocent people, including three women. The people are so angry," he said.