War News for Monday, February 15, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier in an IED attack near Forward Operating Base Inkerman, to the north-east of Sangin, Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Sunday, February 14th.

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier in roadside bombing in the Nad 'Ali area of Helmand province, Afghanistan on Saturday, February 13th.

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from small arms fire attack in the Musa Qal'ah district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Sunday, February 14th.


In the open: Firefight with Taliban:

Taliban Fighters Said to Flee Under Coalition Pressure:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: One civilian man was killed and three others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in eastern Baghdad on Sunday evening, according to an Iraqi police source. “The IED, planted near a popular café on al-Jawader street in the eastern Baghdad Sadr City, killed one civilian man and wounded three others who were inside the café then,” the source, who asked not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An improvised explosive device (IED) went off this morning near the headquarters of the National Labor and Salvation Coalition in Baghdad, wounding one security guard, the Iraqi police said. “The blast has caused damage to the building, located in al-Qahera neighborhood, eastern Baghdad,” a police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Three mortar rounds have landed on a U.S. military base in northeastern Baghdad, the Iraqi police said on Monday. “At noon, three mortars fell on a U.S. army military base near the central markets in al-Shaab neighborhood, northeastern Baghdad,” a police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Two civilians were killed and two others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in al-Saadiya town, north of Baaquba, on Sunday, a local security source in Diala said. “An IED went off near a civilian vehicle planted on the Mandili-Saadiya road, (100 km) north of Baaquba, leaving two people killed and two others wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: One civilian man was killed and another wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen on Sunday, a senior security official in Kirkuk said. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire on two ethnic Kurdish citizens in Ras Domez, southwestern Kirkuk, killing one and seriously wounding the other,” Brig. Sarhad Qader, the director of the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD), told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A security source told the German Press Agency dpa that unknown militants stormed the house of a policeman, killing him and injuring his wife before fleeing. The attack took place in the eastern al-Quds district of the city of Mosul, some 400 kilometers north of Baghdad.

#2: In a separate attack, a group of militants attacked a house in the al-Resala district in western Mosul, killing two members of a family.

#3: One al-Qaeda gunman was killed and another was wounded and arrested during a security operation in Mosul City, a local security source said on Monday. “SWAT personnel killed Yashar Abdulhakeem, an AQI leader in Ninewa province, and arrested Ammar Abdulghani during a security operation in al-Quds neighborhood, Mosul City,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: One woman was killed on Monday in an attack launched by unknown gunmen on her house in northern Mosul city.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Three civilians have been wounded when unknown gunmen detonated two houses belonging to police personnel in Anbar, a local police source said on Monday. “This morning, unknown gunmen blew up two houses belonging to police personnel in Kabeesa district, western Anbar, wounding three civilians according to an initial count,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Sniper teams attacked U.S. Marines and Afghan troops across the Taliban haven of Marjah, as several gun battles erupted Monday on the third day of a major offensive to seize the extremists' southern heartland. Multiple firefights in different locations taxed the ability of coalition forces to provide enough air support as NATO forces forged deeper into the town, moving through suspected insurgent neighborhoods, the U.S. Marines said. In northern Marjah, an armored column came under fire from at least three separate sniper teams, slowing its progress. One of the teams came within 155 feet and started firing.

#2: Pakistani officials say a suspected U.S. drone strike killed at least three militants in a northwestern tribal region Monday, a day after a similar attack in the same area. Officials say a missile fired from an unmanned aircraft struck a vehicle traveling through Tapi village in North Waziristan.

#3: On Sunday, officials say seven militants were killed when two missiles struck a militant training compound in the town of Mir Ali.

#4: In other violence Sunday, Pakistani officials said an explosion in southern Sindh province killed three people and wounded at least nine others. There is no word on what caused the blast in Dadu, but authorities are investigating it as a bombing. There has been no claim of responsibility.

#5: A U.S. soldier was down, shot in the chest by an insurgent near the besieged Taliban stronghold of Marjah. A Canadian soldier in the same patrol took a bullet in the front of his helmet, right where the center of his forehead was, like a bull's-eye. He was stunned, but unhurt.

#6: Afghan police said Monday that an anti-Taliban operation in the relatively peaceful west of the country had killed 27 militants, as a US-led offensive in the south faced stiff resistance. Afghan police, supported by international forces, launched an operation against Taliban in the Bakwa district of Farah province on Sunday, provincial police chief Mohammad Faqir Askar told foreign news agency.


MoD: Lance Sergeant David Greenhalgh