War News for Tuesday, February 02, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the deaths of two British ISAF soldiers in an IED attack near Malgir, which lies between Babaji and Gereshk, Helmand province Afghanistan on Monday, February 1st.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an unidentified location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, February 1st.

Think Spain is reporting the death os a Spanish ISAF soldier, Felipe Romero Meneses, in a roadside bombing in the Afghan town of Sang Atesh, western Afghanistan on Monday, February 1st. Six other Spanish soldiers were injured in the attack.


As Marines Move In, Taliban Fight a Shadowy War:

US troop surge focuses attention on roadside bombs:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: update A female suicide bomber detonated her explosives inside a way station for Shiite pilgrims Monday, killing 54 people. The bomber hid the explosives beneath an abaya - a woman's black cloak worn from head to toe - as she joined a group of pilgrims on the outskirts of Baghdad's Shiite-dominated neighborhood of Shaab, said Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, Baghdad's top military spokesman. A police official said 54 people, including 18 women and 12 children, were killed and 117 were wounded. A hospital official confirmed the casualties.

#2: Twelve pilgrims who were heading to Karbala have been wounded in a hand grenade attack in the capital Baghdad, the Iraqi police said on Tuesday. “Last night, an unknown gunman threw a hand grenade at a group of visitors who were on their way to Karbala in Baghdad’s southern neighborhood of al-Doura, wounding 12 of them,” a police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: “At noon, a roadside explosive device targeted Arbaeen visitors in al-Zafaraniya area, southeastern Baghdad, wounding three of them (civilians),” a police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol in Saidiyah neighbourhood, south Baghdad at 8.30 a.m. Monday, causing material damages only.


Taji:
#1: Meanwhile, a policeman was wounded when a sticky device hit his civilian vehicle in Baghdad’s northern area of al-Taji, according to the same source.


Mosul:
#1: In northern Iraq, gunshots were fired at the motorcade of the Ninevah provincial governor, Atheel al-Nujaifi, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Mosul, said a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media. The governor was not injured, but some of the vehicles in the convoy were damaged, the officials said. The shots occurred while al-Nujaifi was visiting a dam and was met by Kurdish protesters waving flags and banners from their nearby northern enclave.

#2: Four civilians were wounded on Monday in a motorcycle bomb explosion in the east of Mosul, a security source said. “A booby-trapped motorcycle went off in the Christians-majority Qurat Qoush town in al-Hamadaniya district, east of Mosul, injuring four civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Police forces defused an explosive device on Monday in central Mosul, according to a security source. “A force from the criminal investigation department in Ninewa, managed on Monday to defuse an explosive charge, planted in a crowded region in al-Sergkhana region in central Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Falluja police forces have dismantled two explosive devices in the east of the city and captured three suspects, a local security source said on Monday. “On Monday, a force from al-Karma police defused two roadside explosive devices planted by unknown gunmen in the district,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“No casualties or damage were reported,” the source noted.

#2: Police forces on Monday seized a rocket launch pad and two Katyusha missiles north of Ramadi city. “The two rockets were defused,” a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Four policemen were wounded on Monday in an improvised explosive device blast in eastern Falluja, a police source said. “An explosive charge went off targeting a police vehicle patrol in al-Bu Soouda region in al-Karma district in eastern Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast injured four policemen and damaged their vehicle,” he added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Pakistani troops killed eight Islamist militants Tuesday in an Afghan border region where insurgents are staging a comeback after a military operation there was declared a success, a local official said. Pakistani troops killed eight Islamist militants Tuesday in an Afghan border region where insurgents are staging a comeback after a military operation there was declared a success, a local official said.

#2: Gunmen have shot dead "a close friend" of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the troubled southern province of Kandahar, one of the president's brothers told AFP. Gunmen on a motorcycle killed 35-year-old tribal leader Mohammad on Tuesday, described by Ahmad Wali Karzai "as a very close friend of ... the president". Mohammad's driver was also killed and his brother wounded in the attack, Karzai said, his voice shaking with grief.

#3: Two pro-government tribesmen were killed and four wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region of Mohmand on the Afghan border, officials said.

#4: Seven Taliban militants were killed and 10 others injured as Afghan National Police repelled their attack in country's relatively peaceful Jawzjan province Monday night, deputy provincial police chief said on Tuesday. "Scores of armed Taliban militants raided police headquarters in Qoush Tepa district late Monday night and encountered with police, with seven insurgents killed and 10 others injured," Mohammad Ibrahim told Xinhua. He said that two police officers were injured in the gunbattle that lasted for hours.

#5: No damage or casualties occurred when two rockets landed on Camp Arena in Herat province late Monday evening.

#6: In a separate incident, an Australian soldier was slightly wounded when his Bushmaster vehicle struck an IED in another location. Both attacks occurred while the soldiers were on separate patrols north of Tarin Kowt in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, 30 January 2010.


DoD: Sgt. David J. Smith

News: Felipe Romero Meneses