War News for Saturday, March 27, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from small arms fire/grenade attack 3kms south of the Sangin district centre, Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Friday, March 26th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, March 27th.

NATO is reporting the death of another ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, March 26th.


Allawi’s Victory in Iraq Election Sets Up Period of Uncertainty:

Court Decision Before Iraq Vote May Complicate Result:

Families of contractors killed in Iraq sue feds:

Marine's Iraq killings trial to go forward:

Recruit Afghan women to sell war to Europeans: CIA report:

Kandahar Becomes Battlefield Before a U.S. Offensive:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Five civilians were killed in an improvised explosive device blast in central Baghdad on Saturday, an Iraqi police source said. “An IED went off in al-Batawiyeen neighborhood, central Baghdad, leaving five civilian men wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
#1: twin bombings hit a busy area in the town of Khalis, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, just before the election results were announced Friday night. The police spokesman for Diyala province, Capt. Ghalib al-Karkhi, said Saturday that 57 people were killed and 73 were wounded in the explosions, first from a car bomb that went off outside a restaurant and then from a roadside bomb just a few steps away.

#2: Three civilians were killed and another wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a gathering in the district of Saadiya on Saturday, a security source in Diala said. “Gunmen opened fire on a gathering of four civilians who were standing in front of their house in al-Wihda neighborhood, central Saadiya, (100 km) north of Baaquba, leaving three of them killed and another wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Tikrit:
#1: Three Iraqi army soldiers were wounded when a roadside bomb went off east of Tikrit city on Friday, an Iraqi army source said. “The blast targeted an Iraqi army convoy,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. An army vehicle was also destroyed in the explosion, he added.


Mosul:
#1: U.S. forces killed a gunman and wounded two others while attempting to plant a roadside bomb south of Mosul city on Friday, a local police source said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: One Iraqi soldier was killed and two more were wounded in a bomb explosion in eastern Falluja, a police source said on Friday. “An improvised explosive device went off targeting an army vehicle patrol in al-Qanater region in al-Karma district, eastern Falluja, killing a soldier, injuring two and damaging the vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Pakistani air strikes killed nine suspected insurgents Saturday in a tribal region near the Afghan border, an official said, bringing the total killed in a military offensive there to more than 100 this week. The fighting occurred in Orakzai, a tribal region where many Pakistani Taliban militants are believed to have fled to avoid an earlier army offensive in their main stronghold farther south.

#2: An Afghan civilian was killed and ten others were injured as a roadside bomb struck a passenger minibus in country's western Farah province on Saturday, a statement of Interior Ministry said. "The incident occurred in Pushtroad district in the wee hours of today as a result a civilian was killed and ten others were wounded,"the statement said.

#3: A gunman attacked a group of German and Afghan aid workers inspecting a high school under renovation in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, killing one person and injuring several others, officials said. One of those wounded in the attack in Khost province was a German citizen, said a spokesman for the German Foreign Office, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with department policy. The person who was killed was Afghan. In Khost, the attacker opened fire from a vehicle as he approached the site in Khost City and then fled to a nearby house, where he engaged police in a gunbattle that was ongoing Friday evening, said acting provincial Gov. Taher Khan Sabari. A total of three people were wounded in the initial attack, including the German and two Afghans, said the German spokesman and a local police official, Gulam Mohammad.
The Foreign Office did not identify the German aid organization involved in renovating the school. Several others were wounded in the gunbattle that followed the initial assault.
Local hospital official Amir Pacha said a total of nine people were being treated for injuries, including three police.

#4: Elsewhere in Afghanistan on Friday, NATO forces treated three injured children who were brought to a base in the central province of Uruzgan just after troops had completed a live firing exercise. An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the injuries, the international force said in a statement.

#5: A gun battle between Taliban insurgents and police left three militants dead in Afghanistan's southern Ghazni province Saturday, provincial police chief Khayalbaz Shirzai said. "The rebels stormed the headquarters of Rashidan district in the wee hours of today and police with the support of NATO-led troops retaliated, killing three insurgents forcing others to flee, "Shirzai told Xinhua. However, he did not say if the troops used airpower in the operation.


DoD: Sgt. Maj. Robert J. Cottle

DoD: Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni