War News for Thursday, June 17, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack somewhere in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, June 16th. News reports this is an American soldier.


Military and Pentagon Leaders Urge Patience for Afghan Mission:

Pakistan asks U.S. for advanced attack helicopters:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb targeting the vehicle of an Education Ministry official wounded three civilians in Baghdad's central Karrada district, police said.


Kut:
#1: Quick Response Department forces found on Thursday two rockets in southern Kut, a commander of the QRD said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A teacher was seriously wounded in a drive-by shooting in eastern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Policemen killed a gunman on Wednesday in clashes in western Mosul, a police source said. “Clashes flared up on Wednesday (June 16) between policemen and gunmen in al-Resala neighborhood in western Mosul, during which one gunman was killed,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The forces sent the body to the morgue,” he added.

#2: Police forces found on Wednesday an unknown body in western Mosul, according to a security source.


Kurdistan:
#1: Turkey sent hundreds of elite troops into northern Iraq to chase Kurdish guerrillas in an operation that could increase tensions within the region. On Wednesday, the soldiers killed four rebels escaping after a failed attack on a Turkish unit near the border, the Turkish military said. It did not say when the troops, who were supported by Turkish warplanes, would withdraw. But private NTV television, without citing any sources, said the soldiers were on their way back to Turkey. The military said on its website that three commando companies and one special forces battalion penetrated three kilometres into Iraq in the Wednesday incursion. Turkish warplanes also pounded Kurdish rebel positions and mortar and anti-aircraft units deeper inside Iraqi territory on Wednesday, the military said. The offensive was ordered after the rebels attempted an unsuccessful attack on troops near the Turkish border town of Uludere late Tuesday, the military said. "The air operation was monitored from the command headquarters and it was noted that the targets were successfully hit," the military said.

#2: Hundreds of Turkish soldiers have completed their withdrawal from Iraqi territory, a day after the Turkish military announced it sent troops into Iraq in "hot pursuit" of Kurdish rebels, Turkish government officials said on Thursday.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Unidentified gunmen on Thursday surrounded the home of Qudair Hamed Saud in the village of Fielat outside Fallujah, west of Baghdad, and stormed it after an hour-long gun battle, AFP quoted police officials as saying. The pre-dawn attack also took the lives of Saud's brother, three women and a child, Fallujah medics confirmed. The raid was the fourth in a week's time to target members of the Sahwa (Awakening) militia who played a notable role in fighting militancy flaring after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.




Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide car bomb targeting a police headquarters injured three officers and three civilians in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, authorities said. The attack took place in the Andar district of Ghazni province. Ghazni Police Chief Khial Baz Sherzai said the suicide attacker was speedily driving a vehicle similar to the kind used by Afghan National Police. Police singled for the driver to stop and then shot and detonated the vehicle.

#2: Hundreds of Islamist militants attacked a checkpoint along the Afghan border, and nearly three dozen Pakistani paramilitary troops were missing, security officials said Thursday. The Frontier Corps troops disappeared from the Mohmand tribal region, said the two Pakistani officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak the media. The officials blamed the Afghan Taliban for the attack, but a similar report from Afghanistan raised questions about the identity of the culprits. Afghan officials said Wednesday that nine Pakistani militiamen had been apprehended in that country's Kunar province, which is across from Mohmand. It was not clear if the nine were among the 35 reported missing Thursday, but Afghan police said the Pakistanis claimed they were fleeing the Pakistani Taliban.

Also, nine Pakistani militiamen were apprehended early Wednesday inside Afghan territory in Kunar province, provincial Police Chief Khalilullah Ziaye said. The Pakistanis said they fled into Afghanistan to escape attacks by the Pakistani Taliban against four of their checkpoints, Ziaye said. The nine remained in custody pending an investigation, he said.

#3: A roadside bomb struck a vehicle of a private security company in Afghanistan's southern Ghazni province on Wednesday, killing three, police said. "The incident took place this morning. As a result, three employees of Roshan security company were killed," deputy to provincial police Nawroz Ali told Xinhua. Roshan company is a local security company and all the victims are Afghans, he further said, without providing more details.

#4: A roadside bomb killed five Afghan soldiers in Ghazni province, southwest of Kabul, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday. Several civilians were wounded by a suicide bombing outside a Ghazni government building, a provincial official said.

#5: Police shot dead a would-be suicide bomber before he could blow himself up among a group of officers in southern Uruzgan province on Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said.

#6: At least one person was killed and another wounded on Thursday in an explosion in Chitral city of northern Pakistan, local media reported. The blast took place in Ashtangol area of Chitral, the private TV Express reported. The initial report failed to say any other details about the incident.


MoD: Steven James Birdsall

MoD: Corporal Taniela Tolevu Rogoiruwai

MoD: Kingsman Ponipate Tagitaginimoce

DoD: Spc. Christopher W. Opat

DoD: Sgt. Joshua A. Lukeala

DoD: Spc. Matthew R. Catlett

DoD: Spc. Charles S. Jirtle

DoD: Spc. Blaine E. Redding