War News for Friday, July 02, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF Marine from unreported causes in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, June 1st. Here's the ISAF release.

The Washington Post is reporting the deaths of two U.S. soldiers in separate non-combat related incidents in undisclosed locations in Iraq.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an "insurgent attack" in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, June 1st.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an "insurgent attack" in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, June 2nd.


Oil exports through Iraqi-Turkish pipeline halted

Pakistanis blame US after shrine attack kills 42

Split between House, Senate Democrats slows bill funding Obama's Afghanistan troop surge


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb wounded four Shiites on their way to prayer Friday morning in an attack that police said targeted pilgrims headed for a religious ceremony this week at a northern Baghdad shrine. Police officials said the wounded were from a southern Iraqi province and were going to Baghdad's Kazimiyah neighbourhood, where Shiite pilgrims are beginning to gather for the July 7 anniversary of the death of the seventh imam. The blast, at 7:40 local time, went off next to Firdos Square, where U.S. Marines pulled down a statue of Saddam Hussein in 2003. The explosion was felt blocks away in the central Karradah district.


#2: A member of al-Iraqiya List survived an attempt on his life on Friday in western Baghdad, a security source said. “An explosive charge went off on Friday (July 2) targeting the vehicle of Abdulkarim Hattab, a member of Iyad Allawi’s al-Iraqiya List, in western Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car killed a civilian near an office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party (PUK) in eastern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, late on Thursday, police said


Hakurk Region:
#1: Turkish warplanes have bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq, a day after 17 people were killed in clashes in Turkey's southeast, the army said. The military targeted hideouts of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Qandil mountains and the Hakurk region, a statement said on Friday. It did not mention casualties but said "necessary caution was displayed so that civilian people are not adversely affected". The bombings came after 12 separatist fighters and five members of Turkish security forces died during clashes in the Kurdish southeast of Turkey.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban militants attacked the compound of a U.S. aid agency subcontractor in northern Afghanistan early Friday, killing at least four people and wounding 20 others, government officials said. The pre-dawn raid started when a suicide bomber on foot and another in a car detonated at the gate of the compound, said Kunduz Gov. Mohammad Omar. Following the initial assault, four gunmen stormed the facility, firing machine guns and throwing hand grenades, according Omar. The attack was on an office of DAI, a humanitarian assistance subcontractor working with USAID. The Taliban said the building was a base for U.S. special operations troops, a claim the U.S. military denied. Two Afghan security guards and two foreigners died in the attack, said Abdul Raziq Yaqubi, the Kunduz police chief.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has yet to confirm reports that a Filipino was among those killed by Taliban suicide bombers in Afghanistan. In a text message to abs-cbnNEWS.com, DFA Spokesman Ed Malaya said the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs is “currently verifying, thru the RP Embassy in Islamabad the information that a Filipino was among the 5 individuals killed in an attack by Taliban suicide bombers on the office of a US contracting company”. The 5 fatalities include 2 Afghans, a British citizen, a German national and a Filipino. The report added that the five-hour gunbattle also left 24 others wounded

#2: Pakistan's second city Lahore was on high alert Friday after two suicide bombers blew themselves up in an Islamic shrine packed with worshippers, killing 42 people and wounding scores more.

#3: A roadside bomb was defused by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF) Friday near southern Afghanistan's restive city of Kandahar, causing no casualty. Fazal Ahmad Shizad, deputy police chief of Kandahar province, told Xinhua that ISAF service members successfully detected and defused the bomb around one km off Kandahar city, the provincial capital.

#4: A helicopter made a precautionary landing after reporting mechanical problems in Kuz Kunar district, Nangarhar Province, today. An initial press release from Regional Command East indicated the helicopter was an American aircraft, however subsequent reporting indicates that it was not a U.S. or ISAF helicopter.


Spc. Matthew R. Hennigan