War News for Thursday, July 08, 2010

The Washington Post is reporting the death of an American ISAF soldiers in an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, July 8th. News reports he died in a rocket attack on a base close to the Pakistan border.

The Washington Post is reporting the death of another ISAF soldiers in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, July 8th. We believe this is also an American soldier.


A series of bomb attacks targeting Shia pilgrims (in Iraq) here has killed 54 people and left 359 injured, an interior ministry source said Thursday.

Soldier charged with leaking Army shooting


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Six people died in eastern Baghdad when a roadside bomb exploded Thursday morning as pilgrims were walking home from the mosque in the Kazimiyah neighborhood.

#2: while a car bomb in southern Baghdad killed another person.

Ten civilians were wounded on Thursday in a car bomb explosion in southwestern Baghdad, according to a security source. “A car crammed with explosives went off on Thursday (July 8) in al-Aalam neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad, targeting Shiite pilgrims, wounding ten of them,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Five more people were killed by a roadside bomb in northern Baghdad, said Iraqi hospital and police officials.

#4: Officials raised the death toll from Wednesday's single most deadly attack to 35. The attack by a suicide bomber came as Shiite pilgrims were just about to cross a bridge from the mostly Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah Wednesday evening into the predominantly Shiite area of Kazimiyah where the shrine is located. The Imams Bridge connecting the two neighborhoods was also the site of a deadly stampede in 2005 sparked by a rumor that a suicide bomber was among the crowd; 900 people were killed in the ensuing melee.

A suicide bomber wearing an explosives-filled belt targeted Shiite pilgrims and murdered 28 people in Baghdad on Wednesday while 11 more were killed in bomb attacks. The suicide attack occurred in Adhamiyah, a Sunni district across the Tigris river from Kadhimiyah, an area named after Musa Kadhim, the seventh of 12 revered imams in Shiite Islam, whom the pilgrims are honouring. An interior ministry official said 28 were killed and 81 wounded. Many of the victims were passing through Adhamiyah en route to the imam's mausoleum.

#5: “An improvised explosive device went off while a convoy of Shiite pilgrims was passing in al-Rustumiya region, southeastern Baghdad, injuring 14 pilgrims, who were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#6: Five civilians were killed and 36 wounded on Thursday by an improvised explosive device in southeastern Baghdad, a police source said. “The bomb exploded while a convoy of Shiite pilgrims was passing near al-Mashtal bridge in southeastern Baghdad, killing five and wounding 36, all are pilgrims,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#7: Police shot at a suicide car bomber who tried to pass a security checkpoint in the Ghazaliya district of western Baghdad and the car exploded, wounding three soldiers and a policeman, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: One civilian was killed and two more were wounded Wednesday by an improvised explosive device blast in north of Baaquba, a police source said. “An explosive device went off on Wednesday (July 7) near a civilian car in Nada region in al-Saadiya district, north of Baaquba, killing a civilian and injuring two others onboard,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that one of the wounded is in critical condition.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: A bomb attached to a police officer's car exploded, wounding a passenger, in the Abu Ghraib district of western Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: One civilian was killed and another one was wounded in a sticky bomb explosion in the southwest of Kirkuk, a senior police officer said on Thursday. “A bomb, stuck to a civilian car, went off on Thursday (July 8) near Saylo Kirkuk region, southwest of Kirkuk, killing a citizen and injuring another one and damaging the car,” Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: One policeman was killed and seven more were wounded in a roadside bomb blast in south of Mosul, a security source said on Wednesday. “The bomb exploded in al-Qayara district, south of Mosul, on Wednesday evening (July 7), killing a policeman and injuring seven civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: One civilian was killed on Wednesday by unknown armed men in western Mosul, according to a security source. “Unidentified gunmen killed a civilian on Wednesday afternoon (July 7) in al-Islah neighborhood in western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two civilians were killed and two more were wounded in blasts in southern Ramadi, a security source said on Thursday. “Unknown gunmen blew up three houses of a police officer in al-Taameem region, southern Ramadi, killing two civilians and injuring two more, including a child,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: One soldier was killed and four others were wounded in the car bomb explosion in east of Falluja, a police source said on Wednesday. “A suicide bomber blew up a car crammed with explosives targeting a checkpoint in al-Khums Biyout region, east of Falluja, killing a soldier and injuring four,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “A security source had said earlier that a suicide bomber blew up a car bomb near a checkpoint of the Baghdad Operations Command in east of Falluja, leaving unspecified number of casualties.

#3: Security forces sealed off the main road in the city of Falluja after a cop was killed by a pistol with silencer in the city on Wednesday, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen shot and killed a policeman in al-Shuhadaa neighborhood in south of Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.




Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Pakistani fighter jets continued to pound militant hideouts in the Orakzai Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) killing at least 15 extremists and injuring 20 others on Thursday. According to reports, fighter jets showered missiles in areas of Mamozai, Khadezai and Dabori in Orakai destroying five militant hideouts and killing scores of Taliban militants, Xinhua reports.

#2: On Wednesday evening, Mohammad Gul, police intelligence director for western Kabul, was ambushed and killed by gunmen outside his home as he returned from his office, said the city's criminal investigations chief, Abdul Ghfar Sayed Zada. One of his two bodyguards also was killed. Gul was in charge of preventing terrorist attacks and tracking down suspected insurgents in the western quarter of the capital, Zada said.

#3: An explosion rocked Herat city in west Afghanistan Thursday morning, casualties feared, police said. "It was a roadside bomb apparently targeted a police vehicle as a result a police officer was injured," a police officer in Herat city the capital of Herat province told Xinhua but declined to be identified. He also said that the blast occurred on the road leading to Herat airport.

#4: A rocket fired by militants struck a bazaar in Afghanistan's eastern Paktia province leaving six civilians dead on Thursday, an official said. "The rocket fired at around 10:00 a.m. local time today slammed into the bazaar of Janikhil district as a result six innocent civilians were martyred and six others sustained injuries," spokesman for provincial administration Rohullah Samoon told Xinhua.

#5: Taliban militants in a bid to secure the release of their comrades in northwest Ghor province of Afghanistan have kidnapped two local officials, spokesman for provincial administration Abdul Hai Khatibi said Thursday. "Taliban rebels abducted a prosecutor and a teacher from Ghor' s provincial capital Cheghcheran on Wednesday and threatened to kill them if their comrades are not released," Khatibi told Xinhua. Ten Taliban militants were arrested by security forces couple of days ago, the official further said.

#6: In a related development, Taliban militants abducted four employees of an aid agency in the neighboring Herat province Wednesday. "The insurgents kidnapped four local employees of a relief organization from Shindand district and took them to unknown locations,"Lal Mohammad Omarzai the governor of Shindand district told Xinhua.

#7: Three Afghan army soldiers were killed and nine wounded in two separate attacks in southern Afghanistan, the defence ministry said on Thursday.


MoD: Private Thomas Sephton

DoD: Pfc. Edwin C. Wood

DoD: Staff Sgt. Christopher F. Cabacoy