War News for Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The DND/CF is reporting the death of a Canadian soldier at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany on Monday, August 30th. He was wounded from a roadside bombing in the Panjwa’i District, southwest of Kandahar City, Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Sunday, August 22nd.

NATO is reporting the deaths of five ISAF soldiers in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, August 30th. News reports that a roadside bombing killed five American soldiers in Helmand province.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two additional soldiers in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, August 30th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, August 30th. This will be the Estonian soldier.

NATO is reporting the deaths of three ISAF soldiers from a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 31st.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 31st.


Restoring Names to Iraq War’s Unknown Casualties

Petraeus Finishes Rules for Afghan Security Transition

Leader Says Iraq Independent as U.S. Ends Combat

Obama speech on Iraq has risks

Civil liberties groups challenge constitutionality of secret U.S. program to target terror suspects for killing

"Non-combat" Iraq troops still get combat pay


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Two mortar rounds slammed into the Green Zone late Sunday. No casualties were reported.


Mosul:
#1: Two brothers were killed and one civilian man was wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on them in western Mosul city. “The incident occurred last night in the al-Isslah al-Zeraee neighborhood, western Mosul,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Tuesday. He explained that the two brothers work as truck drivers.


Tal Afar:
#1: Army forces killed on Monday a suicide bomber in eastern Talafar, a security source said. “Acting on a tip-off on the presence of a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt in al-Mazraa village in eastern Talafar, a force from the 3rd division of the Iraqi army rushed to the area and killed him,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol near a mosque in central Fallujah, at 11.15 p.m. Monday. The vehicle sustained a direct hit and was destroyed and all five policemen inside it were critically injured.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A rocket fired by militants slammed close to the office of United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in Kandahar province south of Afghanistan, injuring a guard, spokesman for provincial administration Zalmai Ayubi said Tuesday. "The rocket was fired at 10:00 p.m. Monday night. As a result, one Afghan guard of the UNAMA compound was injured," Zalmai Ayubi told Xinhua.

#2: Suspected Islamist militants attacked an army intelligence office Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, officials said, setting off a gunbattle that paralyzed parts of the city. Captured militant suspects were being questioned in the office at the time of the attack, two local police officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. It was not clear, though, if the attack was tied to the questioning. Bashir Bilour, a senior minister in the province, said the shooting began when militants tried to enter the building, but security forces fended off the attack. "They have been surrounded and so far there are no casualties," he told reporters. The area around the office was sealed off soon after the attack, which began about 6 a.m. Sporadic gunfire could still be heard more than five hours later, shutting down blocks of the city. Peshawar is the capital of troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where militants often target police and security forces. The area where the assault happened is near the American Consulate, but police said that building was not the target. TV footage showed commandos and police surrounding the consulate and checking vehicles.

#3: The shooting began hours after suspected U.S. missiles struck two vehicles carrying militants in northwest Pakistan and killed four of them. The overnight missile attack happened in the troubled Kurram tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The slain men were from Taliban's Haqqani network, which is blamed for launching attacks across the border against the American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, two intelligence officials said. The spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

#4: Meanwhile, on the southern outskirts of the capital, Kabul, a gunman opened fire on a busload of Afghan Supreme Court clerks, killing three and wounding 12, the Interior Ministry reported. Assailants on two motorcycles halted the bus Tuesday morning in the Musayi district, an area where insurgents are active, court spokesman Abdul Malik Kamawi said. One gunman then boarded the bus and opened fire with an automatic weapon, killing two people, Kamawi said. A third died later in a hospital.

#5: Also Tuesday, the coalition said it killed two insurgents and wounded a third in an airstrike Monday on a Taliban commander in charge of logistics in Kandahar, including the coordination of homemade bomb attacks. A number of Taliban and allied Haqqani Network commanders were also detained in operations Monday, including one recently returned from teaching bomb-making techniques in Pakistan, NATO said.

#6: In Zabul province bordering Kandahar, insurgents on Monday night ambushed a convoy carrying food and other supplies, killing two private security guards and wounding five others, provincial government spokesman Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar said.

#7: Afghan and foreign troops killed 18 insurgents during a gun battle in the Manogai district of northeastern Kunar province on Monday, provincial governor Fazlullah Wahedi said. Four Afghan troops were wounded, he said.

#8: Two Afghan children were killed when militants attacked an ISAF outpost in the Maidan Shahr district of Wardak province, west of Kabul on Monday, ISAF said. Insurgents fired three rounds at the outpost, one of which landed in the nearby village of Adamkhel, killing the children, it said.

#9: Three aid workers were killed and two others sustained injuries as a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in Afghanistan's northeast Badakhshan province, Mohammad Amin Sohail the spokesman for provincial administration said Tuesday. "The tragic incident happened in Shahr-e-Buzarg district on Monday afternoon. As a result, Mohammad Javed the office in-charge of OXFAM and two of his colleagues were killed," Sohail told Xinhua. All the victims are Afghans, he asserted. Another two people, including an employee of the office, were injured, he further said.

#10: At least six suspected militants were killed and another three were injured Tuesday as Pakistani military jets and gunship helicopters pounded heavy artillery on militants hideouts in Khyber tribal agency in northwest Pakistan, local sources told Xinhua. The air strikes targeted Ghaibee Baba and Sandane tribe's Sipah area in Bara district of Khyber Agency, local sources said.


DoD: Master Sgt. Daniel L. Fedder

DoD: Staff Sgt. James R. Ide

DoD: Spc. James C. Robinson

DoD: Pfc. Chad D. Coleman

DoD: Pvt. Adam J. Novak

DoD: Capt. Ellery R. Wallace

DoD: Pfc. Bryn T. Raver

DoD: Gunnery Sgt. Floyd E. C. Holley

DND/CF: Corporal Brian Pinksen

EST/MoD: Junior Herdis Sikka

War News for Monday, August 30, 2010

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an IED attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, August 28th.

NATO is also reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an unspecified insurgent attack in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, August 28th.

NATO is also reporting the deaths of two more ISAF soldier from an unspecified insurgent attack in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, August 28th.

NATO is also reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an insurgent attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 29th.

NATO is also reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 29th.


U.S. has blown billions on Iraq reconstruction

Obama Nears Pivotal Mideast Moment


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Hussein Salman, the deputy head of the Shi'ite Endowment, was unharmed when a sticky bomb attached to his car went off in Baghdad's northwestern district of Kadhimiya, an Interior Ministry source said.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: Gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint manned by Iraqi army and police, killing one soldier and wounding three other people, including one policeman, in Abu Ghraib on the western outskirts of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two children were killed in a blast from a hand-grenade in Kirkuk on Sunday, according to a senior security official in the city. “Two children – five and six years of age – were killed after they tampered with a hand-grenade they found in the district of al-Riad,” Brig. Sarhad Qader, the director of the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD), told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen threw three hand grenades and blew up a wooden cart as a police patrol was passing by, wounding 10 people, including one policeman, in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: One insurgent was killed as he was trying to plant a bomb in a small town west of Mosul, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Three gunmen were killed on Monday while booby-trapping a car east of Falluja city, said a local police source. “The incident occurred near a gasoline station in the al-Garma district, east of Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He did not mention further details, but said that the gunmen also planted two roadside bombs nearby the area.

#2: Two people were killed when a bomb in their car went off in the town of Garma, 30 km (20 miles) west of Baghdad, police said. Police said they believed the car had been equipped for a suicde mission.

#3: A roadside bomb wounded three policemen when it went off near their police patrol in the city of Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghanistan An Afghan district chief was killed Monday in a bomb blast targeting a security meeting in a key eastern city, the latest in a series of brazen but largely unsuccessful insurgent attacks in the volatile region. Lal Pur district head Syad Mohammad Palawan died when a bomb planted on his car exploded as he was driving into a government compound to attend a meeting of provincial security and political leaders in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, said police spokesman Ghafor Khan. Insurgents apparently planned for the bomb to explode inside the compound where it could potentially have caused far greater destruction, Khan said. Three of Palawan's bodyguards were wounded, Khan said, while the Interior Ministry put the figure at five.

#2: Elsewhere, Afghanistan's Defense Ministry reported four soldiers were killed and another wounded Sunday in a roadside bombing in Wardak province. A fifth Afghan soldier was killed and another hurt in a bombing in Helmand province's Nad Ali district.

#3: In the southeastern province of Zabul, 24 Taliban traveling by truck and motorcycle were captured while trying to cross the border into Pakistan, said provincial government spokesman Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar.

#4: Fifteen Taliban militants, including a rebel commander, were killed in fighting with security forces in Afghanistan, Xinhua reported Monday. The fighting took place Sunday in Wardak province, 40 km west of Kabul. “Taliban militants attacked a convoy of international troops in Lalam village of Syedabad district Sunday, but the troops retaliated killing 15 insurgents, including their commander Mullah Fazal Rahman,” said Shahidullah Shahid, spokesman of the provincial government. Rahman was a key Taliban commander in the area. There was no casualty among the Afghan and the NATO-led troops.

#5: At least four NATO supply oil tankers were completely destroyed by militants Sunday near Torkham in northwest of Pakistan. Militants attacked NATO tankers supply caravan with rockets turning four of them into ashes in Khyber Agency tribal area near Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Xinhua said, citing local media reports. No casualties were reported in the attack.

#6: Afghan security forces seized two trucks filled with ammunition headed for the airport in the capital Kabul, the Afghan intelligence agency said in a statement. It said the ammunition was illegal and was going to be transported outside the capital to an unknown destination.


DoD: Petty Officer 3rd Class James M. Swink

News of the Day for Sunday, August 29, 2010

An Iraqi police officers uses a bomb detector at a checkpoint in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010 (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) Note: These "bomb detectors" are completely fraudulent. The Iraqi government was conned into spending millions of dollars on these worthless devices and refuses to admit it, so they keep using them. See this article from January -- it's the same device. C


Reported Security Incidents

Note: For whatever reason, news from yesterday seems to have come out late. Most of these incidents occurred on Saturday but were not reported until this morning. Also, they have generally not been reported at all by western media. -- C

al-Djawaana village, south of Mosul

Gunmen attack a police checkpoint late Saturday, killing 2 police and injuring 1. One attacker was also killed.

Mosul

Gunmen attack a police checkpoint in Western Mosul, killing 2.

Tal Afar

A man trying to plant a roadside bomb is killed when it explodes accidentally.

Amara

A U.S. soldier is injured by sniper fire while touring reconstruction projects. At least we can be thankful it wasn't combat related. -- C

Falluja

Security director discovers a bomb attached to his car, police defuse it safely.

Other News of the Day

Asharq Al-Awsat discusses the latest wheeling and dealing. It seems members of Maliki's State of Law Coalition are threatening to bolt in favor of a broad coalition government. However, it is possible these leaks are intended to undermine Maliki. Much of the current infighting concerns efforts to force Maliki out personally while still putting the Shiite bloc in power. According to a source, "'Several leaders in Al-Maliki's coalition aspire to be the second candidate or the alternative to the leader of the SLC in heading the next government. These include Haydar al-Abbadi, a leading member of the Al-Dawa Party, and outgoing Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahrastani.' The source went on to say that 'such aspirations are kept secret or debated in private gatherings.'" This is all quite byzantine, go ahead and read it if you are interested.

Meanwhile, In an interview with Der Spiegel, Ayad Allawi is very worried about overall stability in Iraq, and possible repercussions beyond. I definitely recommend reading this. Here's enough of a taste, I hope, to get you to do so:

SPIEGEL: So your best case prognosis would be …

Allawi: … an Iraq with a balanced and inclusive government, which transcends sectarianism, starts political reconciliation, builds full-blown state institutions and security forces and creates an independent foreign policy.

SPIEGEL: And the pessimistic one?

Allawi: Iraq continues on its downward slide and becomes a failed state. If that happens the Pandora's box will open again and all the violence will reappear.

SPIEGEL: A relapse, in clinical terms, to the bloodiness seen in 2006 and 2007?

Allawi: Yes. But a relapse now would be much more severe, because we do not have multinational forces anymore which could contain a civil war.

snip

SPIEGEL: Are the Americans leaving too early?

Allawi: They have to leave eventually. They have been in Iraq for seven years and we have not achieved anything ourselves. Who can guarantee that this would be different another seven years from now?

snip

SPIEGEL: Your rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, claims to have established a strong Iraq and to be a strong leader.

Allawi: He is not strong. How do you define strength? Commanding one square kilometer in the center of Baghdad?

SPIEGEL: You mean the Green Zone, the highly secure government and embassy compound by the Tigris.

Allawi: From Basra in the south to Mosul in the north, demonstrations are raging. Services (like electricity, water and trash collection) are almost on standstill. Even the Green Zone is being bombarded on a daily basis again. We have an army without airplanes and without tanks. What sort of strength is this?

Dr Brian Jones was head of the UK Defence Intelligence Staff's nuclear, biological and chemical branch in 2002, says Tony Blair ignored repeated warnings that there was no concrete evidence Iraq possessed so-called Weapons of Mass Destruction, in the debate over going to war.

Update: This isn't exactly news, but the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction finds the U.S. -- read the Bush "administration" -- squandered more than $5 billion of your money (I'll bet you didn't know you ever had that much) on screwed up "reconstruction" projects. But we already knew that.

Afghanistan Update

Five campaign workers for female parliamentary candidate Fawzia Gilani, abducted on Thursday, are found dead in Herat.

NATO announces that 2 U.S. service members were killed today in Southern Iraq, bringing to 7 the total of Americans killed this weekend.

Roadside bomb kills 7 mercenaries, injures 3, in Salar area of Maidan Wardak province.

Dexter Filkins and Alissa J. Rubin report that Hamid Karzai is blocking investigations of corruption in his government. Well duhhh. Excerpt:

One of the country’s most senior prosecutors said Saturday that President Hamid Karzai fired him last week after he repeatedly refused to block corruption investigations at the highest levels of Mr. Karzai’s government. Fazel Ahmed Faqiryar, the former deputy attorney general, said investigations of more than two dozen senior Afghan officials — including cabinet ministers, ambassadors and provincial governors — were being held up or blocked outright by Mr. Karzai, Attorney General Mohammed Ishaq Aloko and others.

Mr. Faqiryar’s account of the troubles plaguing the anticorruption investigations, which Mr. Karzai’s office disputed, has been largely corroborated in interviews with five Western officials familiar with the cases. They say Mr. Karzai and others in his government have repeatedly thwarted prosecutions against senior Afghan government figures.

Quote of the Day

The Obama administration’s reluctance to discipline senior generals for comments bordering on insubordination seems to have encouraged the generals to believe they can speak their mind with impunity about President Obama's management of the Afghan conflict.

Ray McGovern

News of the Day for Saturday, August 28, 2010

Whisker is otherwise occupied today. -- C

Reported Security Incidents

Basra

Roadside bomb attack on a U.S. patrol, U.S. forces cordon off the area, no report on casualties. Wait a minute -- a U.S. patrol? But I thought . . .

Other News of the Day

President Obama, in his weekly radio address, affirms the end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq. I am truly confused.-- C

PM Nuri al-Maliki warns Iraqis to expect intensified violence by al Qaeda and Baathists in the days ahead.

$1.9 million worth of computers donated by the U.S. for Iraqi schoolchildren are auctioned off for $45,700 by the head of the port at Umm Qasr. "The U.S. press release was a rare public admission by the military of the loss of American taxpayer money in Iraq and an equally rare criticism of Iraqi officials with whom the Americans are trying to partner as the military hands over more and more responsibility and withdraws troops. "

Moktada al-Sadr apparently alleges that the recent bomb attacks "show that terrorists are reckless they also prove that they are agents for the occupier and they are acting this way to give him the pretext to stop its fake alleged withdrawal." This is a highly partisan Shiite news service and the English is not great, but this is what they report, for what it's worth. -- C

Afghanistan Update

NATO reports the deaths of 3 ISAF soldiers on Friday, 2 in the east and 1 in the south, without providing further details.

Taliban attack Forward Operating Base (FOB) Salerno and nearby Camp Chapman in Khost province, are repelled, suffering heavy losses, according to a NATO statement. TOLO News reports 2 NATO soldiers wounded in these battles.

Another poison gas attack on a girls' school, this time in Kabul, sickens 20 girls and their teacher. Reuters says 48 girls were sickened in the attack.

Reuters also reports ISAF said its forces had mistakenly killed two private security contractors after one of its patrols came under fire from insurgents in Wardak province, west of Kabul.

Quote of the Day

It seems we are once again walking into the same trap, the same nonsensical assumptions of wars won, missions accomplished, troops withdrawn, and jolly soldiers carrying cardboard signs of heart-warming messages like "Lindsay & Austin … Dad's coming home." . . . So what if the US army downgrades its military presence in Iraq and re-labels over 50,000 remaining soldiers? Will the US military now stop chasing after perceived terrorist threats? Will it concede an inch of its unchallenged control over Iraqi skies? Will it relinquish power over the country's self-serving political elite? Will it give up its influence over every relevant aspect of life in the country, from the now autonomous Kurdish region in the north all the way to the border with Kuwait in the south, which the jubilant soldiers crossed while hollering the shrieks of victory?

Ramzy Baroud

War News for Friday, August 27, 2010

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an IED attack in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, August 27th.

NATO is also reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Friday, August 27th.


G4S secure after £15m Iraq mine deal

'Five rebels, two guards' killed in Iran clashes:. Five rebels and two members of the Revolutionary Guards have been killed in clashes in Iran's Kordestan province near the Iraqi border, government newspaper Iran reported on Thursday.

Pakistan Flood Sets Back Years of Gains on Infrastructure

CIA making secret payments to members of Karzai administration

UN: 1 million more displaced by Pakistan floods


Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:
#1: The Diala police on Thursday arrested 25 wanted persons including an “amir” or leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), killed a gunman from the armed group, defused 14 improvised explosive devices and seized half a ton of a highly explosive material separately, according to a senior security official.

#2: Shimari also said that the police, in a separate incident, shot dead an AQI member while attempting to attack a checkpoint in the area of al-Kabba, Baaquba.


Baaj:
#1: Gunmen opened fire at an Iraqi army patrol late on Thursday, killing two soldiers and one officer, in Baaj, 375 km (233 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police said.


Shirqat:
#1: Gunmen killed three anti-Qaeda militiamen in northern Iraq overnight in the latest revenge attack against the force credited with turning the tide against the jihadists, police said on Friday. Another three militiamen were wounded in the midnight (2100 GMT) attack on a checkpoint in the centre of the mainly Sunni Arab town of Al-Sharqat, 290 kilometres (180 miles) north of Baghdad, a provincial police officer said.


Mosul:
#1: A child and a civilian were wounded on Thursday by an improvised explosive device in eastern Mosul, a police source said. “The bomb exploded on Thursday afternoon (Aug, 26) in central al-Muthanna market, eastern Mosul, injuring a civilian and a 9-year-old child,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the blast did not target any security patrol.

#2: Three army soldiers were killed late Thursday in an armed attack in western Ninewa, chairman of al-Baaj district said on Friday. “Unknown gunmen attacked a military vehicle in Jebrat Marman village, western al-Baaj district, northwest of Mosul, killing three soldiers, including a lieutenant,” Jassem Mohammad Hussein told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: One policeman was killed and 10 people injured in two consecutive blasts in Falluja city, Iraqi police sources said on Friday. Seven civilians were injured when an explosive device went off at midnight near a policeman's house in al-Golan neighbourhood, in Falluja, located some 60 kilometres west of Baghdad. Another blast took place shortly after police arrived at the scene, killing one policeman and injuring three others, sources added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A roadside bomb tore through a crowded market in Afghanistan's increasingly volatile north, killing three policemen and two civilians, a police official said today. Another 15 civilians were wounded in yesterday evening's bombing in Kunduz province's Archi town.

#2: Militants have attacked oil tankers carrying fuel supplies to NATO and US forces in Afghanistan, torching them in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. A group of unidentified armed men opened fire on an oil tanker at the RCD highway near the Lak Pass area of Quetta while another oil tanker came under attack near the Mongechar area of Kalat district, local police officials told Press TV. Gunmen also fired shots at another oil tanker near the Sor Gaz area of Mastung and then set it ablaze. The oil tanker was reduced to a twisted mass of metal by the fire. The tankers were on their way to the Afghan border from the southern port of Karachi. No human loss was reported in the incidents.

#3: Insurgents launched an attack on a coalition force combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province Thursday and the trading of fire killed four insurgents and one civilian. A press release issued Friday by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed the incident, which took place in the Darah-ye Pech district of Kunar province. The coalition force responded to the insurgent attack with mortar fire and called for air support, said the NATO press release. It said an insurgent round was observed to have landed short of its target, allegedly killing an Afghan civilian in a corn field.

#4: An Afghan police commander said Friday that NATO warplanes targeting Taliban insurgents killed six children in a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan known to be a militant hotbed. The alliance said it was investigating claims that civilians had died following the air strike on Thursday against militants who were attacking a military outpost in the restive province of Kunar, which borders Pakistan. Provincial police chief Khalilullah Ziayee told AFP that children were collecting scrap metal on the mountain when NATO aircraft dropped bombs to disperse Taliban fighters attacking a nearby base. "In the bombardment six children, aged six to 12, were killed. Another child was injured," the police commander said.

#5: A suicide bomber killed himself Friday in a market in Mansehra, a district in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, local sources said. The attacker detonated the blast near a mini cinema in central Mansehra, injuring several others.

#6: An unmanned aerial system of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) crashed Thursday in eastern Afghanistan's Wardak province. The ISAF confirmed the incident in a press release, noting that the force has recovered the crashed plane.

War News for Thursday, August 26, 2010

Flooding in Pakistan Spreads South

Key Karzai Aide in Corruption Inquiry Is Linked to C.I.A.


Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:
#1: Insurgents killed six members of a government-allied Sunni militia in an ambush northeast of Baghdad on Thursday, police said. Diyala police spokesman Maj. Ghalib al-Karkhi said the government-allied fighters, known as Sahwa or Awakening Councils, were driving near the town of Muqdadiyah around 1:30 a.m. when their car hit a roadside bomb. The explosion killed four of the guards immediately, al-Karkhi said. Gunmen then attacked the two survivors, killing them, he said.


Mosul:
#1: One soldier was killed and another one was wounded Wednesday in an armed attack in western Mosul, according to a military source. “Unknown gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in al-Maash market, western Mosul, killing a soldier and wounding another one,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A police officer was killed by mistake and another one was wounded in an attack in western Mosul on Wednesday, according to a security source. “A gunman opened fire on a police checkpoint near a fuel station in western Mosul, injuring a policeman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The forces tracked down the attacker and opened fire on him, killing a passing police colonel by mistake,” the source added, without giving further details.

#3: Four civilians were killed and 11 were wounded on Wednesday in a car bomb explosion in western Mosul, a police source said. “A car bomb went off on Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 25) in Daourat Abou Alisi region, western Mosul, killing four civilians and injuring 11,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The car exploded while a bus was passing near it,” he added, noting that a woman and a six-month baby were among the victims.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two policemen were wounded on Wednesday in an improvised explosive device explosion in southern Falluja, a police source said. “The bomb exploded this afternoon targeting a police vehicle patrol in Nahr Falieh river in al-Shuhadaa neighborhood, southern Falluja, injuring two policemen and damaging their vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A car bomb was defused on Wednesday by policemen in central Falluja, according to a security source. “Falluja police department managed on Friday to defuse a car bomb near a restaurant on the Baghdad street in central Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Army forces killed a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt in eastern Mosul on Wednesday, according to a security source. “A force from the 7th brigade of the 2nd division of the Iraqi army killed a suicide bomber who was targeting a checkpoint in al-Mithaq neighborhood, eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. This is the second incident of its kind in Mosul today as army forces killed a bomber driving a car bomb in al-Sada Bawieza region, northern Mosul.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Insurgents killed eight Afghan police in an attack in the country's increasingly volatile north Thursday. More than 10 militants attacked a police checkpoint outside the northern city of Kunduz, said provincial police chief Abdul Raziq Yaqoubi, adding they suspected the attackers were from Russia's restive Chechnya region who are active in the surrounding province, also called Kunduz. He said two or three of the militants were wounded when the police fought back. The militants apparently hoped to steal the policemen's weapons, but were beaten back before they could do so, he said.

#2: Also Thursday, a candidate in next month's parliamentary elections said 10 of her campaign workers were kidnapped while traveling in the western province of Herat. Fawzya Galani said she lost contact with the group at about 6 p.m. Wednesday. Villagers told her armed men had stopped the group and driven off in their two vehicles, Galani said. No one claimed responsibility and local district chief Nisar Ahmad Popal said it wasn't clear whether the kidnappers were political rivals or members of the Taliban, which is seeking to sabotage the Sept. 18 elections for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament.

#3: NATO also reported that three Afghan civilians were killed Wednesday by a homemade bomb in Kandahar's Arghandab district, a Taliban stronghold that has had a growing coalition presence.

#4: Two Taliban commanders were also killed Wednesday in fighting with a joint Afghan-Taliban force in neighboring Uruzgan province, along with 12 regular insurgent fighters, the Afghan National Police reported. Four insurgents were captured in the operation, the police said.

#5: Three Afghan civilians were killed when they stepped on a roadside bomb in the Arghandab district of southern Kandahar province, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

#6: A roadside bomb killed two Afghan soldiers in southern Zabul province, the Defence Ministry said.


DoD: Pfc. Justin B. Shoecraft

War News for Wednesday, August 25, 2010

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers during a small arms fire/shooting incident in an undisclosed location in western Afghanistan on Wednesday, August 25th. Various news reports indicate that an Afghan driver and or recruit shot two Spanish soldiers and their interpreter in a training facility somewhere in Badghis province.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 24th.


Blast hits Iran-Turkey pipeline, Kurd rebels blamed

CIA sees increased threat from al-Qaeda in Yemen


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: The deadliest attack occurred in north Baghdad where a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb in a parking lot behind a police station, killing 15 people, including six policemen and nine civilians. Another 58 were wounded in the attack in Baghdad's Qahira neighborhood, police and hospital officials said.

#2: a car bomb that killed two civilians in Adan Square, in the north of the city and wounded eight people.

A parked car bomb exploded in a busy street in the Allawi commercial area in central Baghdad killing two civilians and wounding seven others.

#3: Gunmen in a western Baghdad neighborhood ambushed a police patrol, killing one,

#4: while a roadside bomb hit an army patrol nearby leaving a soldier dead.

#5: A roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi police patrol in western Baghdad and wounded three Iraqi soldiers.

#6: Unknown gunmen shot and killed a member of the municipality council of the Sadr City in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, according to a security source. “The gunmen opened fire on Ahmad Hassan, a member of the municipality council of Sadr City, inside his house in Jamiela neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Just north of the capital, in Muqdadiyah, the local council building was also hit with a car bomb, killing three civilians and injuring 18, according to the spokesman of Diyala police, Maj. Ghalib al-Karkhi.

#2: Afterwards, a booby-trapped car parking outside a hospital some 100 meters away from the government office detonated, wounding six people, the source said. The second blast was apparently designed to hit the wounded victims of the suicide attack as well as the security forces which were to arrive at the scene after the first blast, the source added.

#3: Bombs left outside five homes in Buhriz, south of Baquba, in Diyala province left at least four people wounded, police said. The bombs were left outside the homes of four policemen and an electoral commission official.

#4: A suicide bomber blew up a car bomb in central Baaquba on Tuesday, leaving unspecified number of casualties, according to a security source. “The bomber blew up the car bomb on the main road in Baaquba al-Jadieda region, central Baaquba, killing and injuring a number of persons,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Ambulances rushed to the area to carry the victims,” he added. He did not give more details.

#5: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded four policemen in Balad Ruz, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

#6: Two policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb went off near their vehicle in Saadiya town, 100 km (70 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

#7: Gunmen shot dead a government employee in a market in the town of Khalis, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mussayab:
#1: “An improvised explosive device went off on Tuesday (Aug. 24) near a car in al-Khedr region, in al-Musayab district, northern Hilla, killing the driver and destroying his vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: “Another bomb exploded near an Iraqi army vehicle patrol, killing a soldier,” he added.


Kut:
#1: At least 23 people were killed and some 60 wounded on Wednesday in a powerful car bomb explosion outside the police headquarters in the city of Kut, the capital of Wasit province, 170 km southeast of Baghdad, a provincial police source said. "We have 23 people killed and 60 inured by the powerful blast in Kut," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The blast took place at about 10:00 a.m. (0700 GMT) when an explosive-packed vehicle parking in front of the city police headquarters detonated, destroying the headquarters' building and a nearby government building, the source said. The powerful blast totally destroyed the police building and many people were buried under debris, the source said, adding that severe damages hit the nearby buildings.

Southeast of Baghdad, in Kut, eight policemen were killed and 20 people were injured when a suicide bomber detonated his car bomb next to the town's local council, police and hospital officials said.

#2: One civilian was killed on Tuesday by gunmen in southern Kut, a police source said. “Unidentified gunmen attacked a civilian, working as a coach for a sports club, in southern Kut using knives, killing him and fleeing to unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Iskandariyah:
#1: The south witnessed scattered attacks as well, including a car bomb that killed a local man on the road near Iskandariyah, 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Baghdad.


Karbala:
#1: In the Shiite holy city of Karbala a car bomb exploded near the police station, wounding 28 people but leaving no fatalities.


Basra:
#1: Two people in the southern port city of Basra were also injured by a car packed with explosives.

#2: Three civilians were wounded on Tuesday in an explosion in west of Basra, according to a security source. “The bomb went off targeting a U.S. convoy on Mohammad al-Qassem road, west of Basra, injuring three civilians, and damaging a U.S. Hummer vehicle and a civilian car,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. For his part, the media advisor of the U.S. army in Iraq, Nader Suleiman, denied any attack on U.S. troops in Basra or in its surrounding areas.


Tikrit:
#1: Police also came under attack in Tikrit in the northwest, where a police station was blown up in a car bombing. Several officers were injured in the attack.

#2: Outside of the city, a police patrol came under attack by insurgents using guns and explosives. One insurgent was killed and several policemen injured in the attack.


Dujail:
#1: A car bomb exploded outside Dujail police station about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Baghdad and wounded three police officers.


Samarra:
#1: The chief of Facility Protection Services in Samarra was seriously hurt when two bombs went off in quick succession as his convoy passed by in central Samarra -- about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Baghdad. The service is in charge of providing security protection to government institutions.


Kirkuk:
#1: Police were also targeted in the northern oil hub of Kirkuk, where a car bomb killed one policeman and wounded eight more.


Mosul:
#1: A suicide bomber driving a car tried to attack an Iraqi army security checkpoint in eastern Mosul but security forces shot and detonated the car.


Tal Afar:
#1: One 4-year child was killed and three persons were wounded when eight Katyusha rockets hit on Wednesday different areas of the Talafar suburb, northwest of Mosul city. “One of the rockets hit a house in the Saad neighborhood, western Talafar (60 km northwest of Mosul city) leaving heavy damage,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Another soldier was killed west of the capital in the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-packed car into a convoy. Another 10 people were injured, police said.

#2: In Fallujah, west of the capital, at least three people were killed in several bomb attacks. A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed two children and injured several people outside the city and a second such attack later in the morning killed a soldier and injured 10 people.

#3: Police in the area said an armed militant was killed while planting a bomb.

#4: A sticky bomb attached to the car of a local government official wounded him and two others in central Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.

#5: A roadside bomb near a police checkpoint killed two children and wounded their mother and brother in central Falluja, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan police and Spanish troops clashed early Wednesday outside a base in western Afghanistan, leaving at least one policeman dead, local officials said. The cause of the incident in western Badghis province's Qalay-I-Naw district was under investigation, said provincial government spokesman Sharafuddin Majidi. Majid Khan Shkib, a member of the provincial council, said it wasn't clear who had fired first and there were unconfirmed reports of casualties among the Spanish troops. Spain's interior minister says an Afghan policeman taking part in a training course has opened fire on his instructors, killing two Spanish police officers and their interpreter. Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba says the incident occurred Wednesday near a Spanish military base in western Badghis province. He said Spanish police returned fire and killed the student.

#2: A Finnish solder serving as a peacekeeper in Afghanistan was wounded from an accidental shot in the leg on Tuesday. According to Lieutenant-Colonel Mikael Feldt, who assumed the role of the commander of the Finnish ISAF troops on Monday, the accident took place in the Aybak base when the troops were preparing to leave for the shooting range. “Before leaving the base the weapons are always loaded and put at safety. The accident occurred inside the base, but at this point we are unable to provide additional information as to what exactly happened”, Feldt explained over the telephone from Mazar-i-Sharif. The victim has been operated on. His condition is not life-threatening.


DoD: Sgt. Brandon E. Maggart

DoD: Sgt. Jason D. Calo

DoD: Spc. Pedro A. Millet Meletiche

DoD: Sgt. Steven J. Deluzio

DoD: Spc. Tristan H. Southworth

DoD: Sgt. Ronald A. Rodriguez

DoD: Lance Cpl. Robert J. Newton

AU/DoD: Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney

War News for Tuesday, August 24, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, August 23rd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 24th.


Two Iraq judges killed in violence claimed by Al-Qaeda: Al-Qaeda says avenging death sentences being handed down to Sunnis in Shiite prisons.

U.S. General Cites Goals to Train Afghan Forces


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen opened fire and wounded two policemen when they attacked their checkpoint in Baghdad's western district of Amiriya late on Monday, an interior ministry source said. Another civilian was injured in the attack.

#2: A mortar wounded a civilian when it landed on a house in northern Baghdad late on Monday, an interior ministry source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: One civilian was killed and another one was wounded Monday in a bomb explosion in north of Baaquba, a police source said. “An improvised explosive device went off near a motorcycle in al-Azim region, north of Baaquba, killing a civilians and injuring another one,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Thi Qar:
#1: A roadside bomb went off on Monday near a convoy of the U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team (P.R.T) southwest of Nassiriya city, causing no casualties or damage. “A local-made anti-shields bomb went off at 9:30 am on Monday (Aug. 23) in southwest of Nassiriya targeting two vehicles of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (P.R.T),” the Thi-Qar police department said in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion left no damage or casualties,” the statement added.


Sayniyah:
#1: Gunmen disguised as Iraqi soldiers killed five oil workers transporting salaries and stole almost 400,000 dollars (316,500 euros), the head of security for the state-owned oil company said Tuesday. The attack occurred on Monday afternoon near the town of Sayniyah in Salaheddin province north of Baghdad as the salaries were being taken to an oil pumping station in Haditha, in western Anbar province. "Five employees of K-3, a unit of the North Oil Company, were kidnapped near the village of al-Bushmanah, west of Sayniyah, by gunmen wearing army uniforms," said Colonel Adnan Mohammed Abdulrazzaq, security chief for the state-owned North Oil Company.

Unknown gunmen killed seven employees of the Baiji refinery and seized their salaries, according to a source from local police department. “An armed group attacked a vehicle of the Baiji refinery, western Baiji, killing seven employees, assigned to bring the salaries,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that they stole 750 million dinars.


Northern Iraq:
#1: The Iranian artillery on Monday shelled mountainous areas on borders in Kurdistan region, according to an official security source from the Kurdistan region’s Peshmerga forces. “The Iranian artillery shelled border regions on Qandil mountains on Wadi Rasoul in Bashdar region, north of Sulaimaniya,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The shelling set a nearby forest ablaze,” he added. The Iranian army is shelling these areas under the pretext they harbor the PJAK fighters.


Mosul:
#1: Three soldiers were wounded on Monday in a hand grenade explosion in northern Mosul, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen threw the bomb on a military checkpoint in al-Qahera neighborhood, northern Mosul, on Monday (Aug. 23), wounding three soldiers,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Four civil servants working for the Haditha Refinery were killed on Tuesday in an armed attack in western the al-Anbar province. “Unknown gunmen used light arms today to open fire targeting a civilian car driven by four civil servants working for the Haditha refinery, western the al-Anbar province,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He explained that the incident occurred after the four victims received their salaries in the al-Seniya district of Haditha.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan and international forces have killed about 40 Taliban fighters east of the Afghan capital Kabul as part of operations to provide security ahead of parliamentary elections next month, NATO said Tuesday. Fighting in Kabul province began Friday, involving Afghan, U.S. and French troops and both air and ground assaults, the coalition said. Eight Taliban leaders were captured and a large quantity of explosives and other weapons destroyed, it said. Troops were taking the fight to the insurgents in an area where they "used to feel pretty secure operating in," Brig. Gen. Steve Townsend, the U.S. deputy commander in eastern Afghanistan, was quoted as saying in a news release.

#2: Heavy fighting overnight was also reported in the southwestern provinces of Nimroz and Uruzgan, adjoining the insurgent strongholds of Helmand and Kandahar provinces. Numerous Taliban were killed, but the Afghan police and army managed to avoid casualties, according to an army news release and Nimroz police chief Abdul Jabbar Pardali.

#3: Also Tuesday, NATO said it was investigating allegations that eight civilians were killed and 12 injured in a coalition raid on a remote mountain village in the northern province of Baghlan. The chief of Baghlan's Tala Wabarfak district, Mohammad Ismail, said the deaths - six men, one woman, and one child - reportedly came in the early hours of Sunday morning in the village of Tergaran. Villagers told him troops flown in aboard five or six helicopters also destroyed several houses during the five-hour operation, Ismail said. Two people were reportedly arrested and taken away he said, adding that Taliban have on occasion been active in the area, a 10-hour walk from the nearest town over which the government exercises little influence.

#4: NATO said U.S. troops fired warning shots on Monday to disperse a protest in eastern Afghanistan over the arrest of a religious leader suspected of a rocket attack. The alliance said no civilian injuries were reported from the demonstration, but Gen. Faqir Ahmad, the deputy police chief of Parwan province, said one civilian was killed by gunfire from an unknown source. NATO said about 300 people surrounded a patrol and attacked vehicles with rocks and iron bars outside the main coalition air base at Bagram in Parwan province. "After several attempts to stop the attack and disperse the crowd, coalition troops received small-arms fire directed at them," NATO said in a news release. Coalition forces then fired the warning shots.

#5: Missiles fired from a U.S. drone aircraft killed 13 militants and seven civilians in Pakistan's North Waziristan region Monday, Pakistani intelligence officials said. They said the missiles were fired at a militant hideout. Most of the militants killed were members of the Afghan Taliban, the officials said, but four women and three children were also among the dead. "The missiles hit a militant compound and a house adjacent to it. We have confirmed reports of 20 dead," said one of the intelligence officials.

#6: Four civilians, including one policeman, were killed and eight wounded in three attacks by insurgents in Takhar, Paktika and Helmand provinces on Sunday and Monday, the Interior Ministry said.

#7: Seven civilians in Paktika province were wounded by an improved explosive device placed in a wheelbarrow, apparently intended to target the local police chief, ISAF said.


DoD: Spc. Christopher S. Wright

DoD: Lance Cpl. Nathaniel J. A. Schultz

DoD: Pfc. Alexis V. Maldonado

FR/DoD: Lt. Lorenzo Mezzasalma

FR/DoD: Corporal Jean-Nicolas Panezyck

War News for Monday, August 23, 2010

MNF-Iraq (OIF) is reporting the death of a United States Forces – Iraq Soldier while conducting operations in Basra province, Iraq on Sunday, August 22nd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 22nd.

NATO is reporting the death of a second ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 22nd.

NATO is reporting the death of a second ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 22nd.

NATO is reporting the death of a second ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 22nd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in northern Afghanistan on Monday, August 23rd. This is being reported as an Hungarian soldier killed from an IED/small arms fire attack somewhere near Mazar-e Sharif city. Three additional soldiers were wounded in the attack.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, August 23rd.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two more ISAF soldiers an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan Monday, August 23rd.


US troops unlikely to resume combat duties in Iraq

16 wounded in violent demo over Iraq power rationing

Facing Afghan mistrust, al-Qaeda fighters take limited role in insurgency:.. The reports, which cover the escalation of the insurgency between 2004 and the end of 2009, mention al-Qaeda only a few dozen times and even then just in passing. Most are vague references to people with unspecified al-Qaeda contacts or sympathies, or as shorthand for an amorphous ideological enemy.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Baghdad police said unknown attackers in a speeding car threw the grenade in the mixed Sunni-Shiite neighbourhood of New Baghdad in the capital's east around 6:30 a.m. Monday. The blast killed one policeman and wounded another, a city police official said.

#2: On Sunday, a grenade attack on an Iraqi army checkpoint in Amariyah, a Sunni area in western Baghdad, killed one soldier and injured two others around 11 pm, police and hospital officials said.

#3: Earlier, a shop selling alcohol near central Baghdad was targeted by a roadside bomb that wounded two people.

#4: An hour later, another bomb struck a popular cafe in the capital's southwest. A policeman said the explosion killed one person and wounded 15.

#5: Two people were killed and 12 wounded when a bomb inside a cafe went off in Baghdad's southwestern district of Risala, an interior ministry source said.

#6: A sticky bomb attached to a car wounded two people when it exploded in Baghdad's western district of Furat, an interior ministry source said.

#7: Gunmen in a speeding car opened fire and wounded a retired Iraqi army brigadier general and his brother as they were driving in Baghdad's northwestern Kadhimiya district, an interior ministry source said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Four persons were wounded when a roadside bomb went off on Monday in central the al-Falluja city. “The blast occurred near a bus station in central Falluja,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He noted that a policeman is among the wounded people.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: The deadliest blast was a suicide attack at a mosque inside a religious school in South Waziristan, said an intelligence official in the region. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the orders set down by his agency. He said Maulana Noor Mohammad, a former lawmaker who ran the school, was among the 16 dead. Yar Mohammad, a local tribesman who was present inside the mosque, also said it was a suicide blast.

#2: Earlier, a bomb exploded inside a school during a meeting of elders in Kurram, killing seven people. Local official Khalid Umerzai said the elders at the meeting were discussing a disagreement over ownership of the school building. It wasn't clear if the blast was tied to that dispute or if it had been launched by Islamist militants.

#3: Afghan and ISAF troops killed 12 Taliban insurgents in northern Baghlan province on Sunday, ISAF said.

#4: ISAF-led forces killed two insurgents in an air raid in southeastern Paktia province on Sunday, ISAF said.

#5: Insurgents fired at least five rockets into Ghazni town southwest of Kabul, officials said. Two of the rockets hit government buildings and one policeman was wounded.

#6: Two soldiers from Australia’s 1st Mentoring Task Force (MTF1) remain in a satisfactory condition after they were seriously wounded on Saturday when an improvised explosive device detonated against their Bushmaster vehicle in the Baluchi Valley region of Uruzgan Province. The soldiers were part of a larger partnered MTF1 and Afghan National Army patrol at the time of the incident.


MoD: Lance Corporal Jordan Dean Bancroft

News of the Day for Sunday, August 22, 2010

An Iraqi soldier stands guard as an electrical worker snips illegally placed wires used to steal electricity from the national grid in Baghdad on June 27. Dozens of Iraqis violently protested in the southern city of Nasiriyah to demand better power supplies, wounding 16 people including 10 policemen, witnesses and officials said. (AFP/File/Ahmad al-Rubaye)


Reported Security Incidents

Basra Province, undisclosed location

U.S. military says a soldier is killed "while conducting operations", gives no further details including whether the death is the result of hostile action. Well, whatever happened, by definition it could not have been "combat," right? -- C

Baghdad

Gunmen attack a vehicle carrying 700 million Iraqi dinars ($600,000) in government payroll, get away with the money. Police suspect inside assistance. Aswat al-Iraq reports specifically that this was payroll for the Baghdad University Veterinary College.

A rash of bombs hits the capital, with reported casualty tolls in double figures. KUNA reports a bomb in Al-Beyaa injures 1; a bomb in Al-Siyadiya injures 5; and a car bomb in Al-Huriya injures 1 and damages several buildings. KUNA includes the incident in Mussayab in this report -- see below.)

Reuters reports an incident that may or may not correspond to one of the above, in which a sticky bomb injures a member of the Badr militia. (Remember them? The armed wing of SIIC.)

Nasiriyah

Police clash with demonstrators protesting the lack of electricity, 10 police and 6 civilians are injured. AFP reports: "Iraq's daily power generation averages 8,000 megawatts, while demand in the summer, when temperatures have hit 54 degrees Celsius (130 degrees Fahrenheit), is typically more than 14,000 megawatts, forcing the use of rationing. Only those with access to their own generators and fuel have been able to refrigerate foodstuffs or air-condition their homes around the clock, while others have been rendered helpless in the oppressive summer heat, triggering the protests."

Mussayab

Bomb in a market, possibly placed inside a store, kills 1 and wounds 6, according to Reuters. KUNA reports 2 killed, 8 injured.

Taji

Roadside bomb injures 2.

Other News of the Day

Iraq's Justice Ministry admits that Ali Lutfi Jassar al-Rawi, sentenced to life in prison for the murder of British aid worker Margaret Hassan, has escaped and is at large. Apparently he escaped some time ago but the government concealed the fact.

Kurdish police officer dies of injuries sustained more than a week ago in a clash with gunmen in Sulaimani.

Afghanistan Update

Two U.S. soldiers killed in eastern Afghanistan. No further details at this time.

MOD confirms the death of a soldier from 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment on Saturday, in southern Afghanistan.

DPA rounds up several security incidents.

1. A roadside bomb struck a vehicle in the western province of Faryab, killing a local commander and four others, the Afghan interior ministry said.


2. ISAF forces killed two insurgents in the southern province of Zabul on Saturday. The troops were in pursuit of a Taliban commander who led attacks on Afghan civilians and security forces, ISAF said.


3. I Helmand, insurgents killed two female civilians while attempting to target a patrol of Afghan and international troops.


4. In Kandahar province, three Taliban commanders where killed in a raid by Afghan and ISAF troops on a Taliban hideout in Arghandab district on Saturday night, a spokesman for the provincial governor said.

Gunmen kidnap Ghulam Nabi, "sub-Governor" of Sawki district in Kunar province, and his son. Such kidnappings often result in ransom demands.




Quote of the Day

We watched the continuous news stories about the "last combat brigade in Iraq" leaving with mixed emotions. We all worked together with that unit, and took over their area of responsibility when they got ready to leave. We ensured the road they traveled on was free of IEDs and the enemy to make sure they made it out safe. I am glad for them and their families that they made it out of Iraq and are on the way home. . . . That being said, it is somewhat frustrating to see the coverage and the message being sent out. Is combat really over in Iraq? . . . [I]t is hard to explain this message to our soldiers still here in Iraq as they dodged the six mortar rounds which slammed into our base two days ago. Families back home watching the news coverage were e-mailing loved ones here asking if we were coming home since we've been in combat for over eight months now. Unfortunately, our homecoming will have to wait; there is still a mission here for us to do.

While our primary mission is to advise and assist the Iraqis, make no mistake about our capabilities. We are a heavily armed and equipped combat brigade with the training, equipment and soldiers to defend ourselves and take the fight to the enemy if ordered to do so. And there is a very active enemy out there who has no intention of slowing down his attacks. Don't let the news stories deceive you. There still will be a very active and lethal fight going on here in Iraq after Sept. 1.

Maj. Mike Sullivan, operations officer of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division

War News for Saturday, August 21, 2010

The Australian DoD is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers in a roadside bombing in the Baluchi Valley, Uruzgan province, Afghanistan on Friday, August 20th. Two additional soldiers were wounded in the attack.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: The police found the body of an employee of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) in al-Hurriya town in northern Baghdad on Friday, a security source said. “Kareem Abdullah was found dead inside his vehicle trunk in the area of al-Dawlaie, al-Hurriya, northern Baghdad. The body, which showed signs of having been shot, was removed to a morgue for autopsy,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A police lieutenant colonel was killed in an armed attack in western Baghdad, a local police source said on Saturday. “Unknown gunmen last night used guns with silencers to attack the officer while he was driving in al-Harthiya neighborhood, western Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: In a separate incident, the same source said that a civilian was wounded in blast in southern Baghdad. “One civilian was wounded when a sticky bomb attached to his car went off in al-Saydiya neighborhood, southern Baghdad,” the source said, giving no more details.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Gunmen shot dead a government-backed Sahwa militia leader in western Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, on Friday evening, police said


Nassiriya:
#1: A roadside bomb on Saturday dawn hit a convoy of the U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team (P.R.T) northwestern the al-Nasseriya city, causing no casualties or damage. “The attack occurred at the al-Chibiesh Intersection, northwestern al-Nassiriya,” a local provincial source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: A U.S. vehicle patrol was attacked on Friday by a thermal bomb in central Kirkuk, without casualties, according to a senior security source. “Unknown gunmen threw a thermal bomb on Friday afternoon (Aug. 20) on a U.S. vehicle patrol in al-Khadraa neighborhood, central Kirkuk,” Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The forces was distributing food and aids to poor families in al-Khadraa neighborhood,” he added.

#2: An asayesh (Kurdish security forces) soldier and a gunman were wounded during an operation to arrest the latter in southwestern Kirkuk city on Friday, according to the asayesh assistant director. “A group of asayesh soldiers attempted to arrest a member of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq in 1 Huzayran neighborhood, southwestern Kirkuk, but he opened fire on them, wounding an asayesh soldier,” Brig. Salar Khalid told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The soldiers fired back, wounding and arresting the gunman,” he added.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen opened fire at an Iraqi police checkpoint, killing one policeman and wounding another, in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: NATO says coalition forces have accidentally killed three Afghan policemen in a friendly fire incident in northern Afghanistan. NATO said Saturday that Afghan security forces, who were under fire from an unknown number of insurgents, called for air support Friday in Jowzjan province. It said two helicopters responded and fired a hellfire missile and 30 millimeter rounds. NATO said an investigation of the site later showed that three members of the Afghan National Police were accidentally killed and several more were wounded by the air weapons team.

#2: A bomb blast killed six anti-Taliban militia fighters in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt on Saturday and wounded five others, officials said. The remote controlled attack hit a checkpoint manned by volunteers from an anti-Taliban militia in Mohmand, a tribal district close to the Afghan border and about 80 kilometres from Peshawar, an official said. "It was a remote control bomb, six volunteers of anti-Taliban peace committee have been killed and five wounded," Maqsud Hasan, a senior government official in Mohmand told AFP by telephone.

#3: Taliban insurgents kidnapped a district chief in eastern Kunar province on Friday, senior police official Abdul Mateen said.

#4: ISAF and Afghan troops killed four insurgents and detained several others during operations in northern Kunduz province on Friday, ISAF said.


DoD: Sgt. Martin A. Lugo

DoD: Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Collin Thomas

DoD: Cpl. Christopher J. Boyd

DoD: Lance Cpl. Cody S. Childers

AU/DoD: Private Tomas Dale

AU/DoD: Private Grant Kirby

War News for Friday, August 20, 2010

The AP is reporting the deaths of three ISAF soldiers in two separate IED attacks in undisclosed areas of southern Afghanistan on Thursday, August 19th and Friday, August 20th.


Mission assassination in Afghanistan


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Two civilians were killed and another one was wounded in a bomb explosion in southern Baghdad, a security source said on Friday. “An explosive charge went off on Friday morning (Aug. 20) in al-Mikanik neighborhood in al-Doura region, southern Baghdad, killing two civilians and injuring another one and damaging a number of nearby stores,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: “Gunmen in a vehicle attacked a checkpoint of the Kurdish security forces in the area of al-Wasiti, southern Kirkuk,m leaving an asayesh soldier wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The checkpoint guards fired back, killing one gunman and wounding another,” he added.

#2: A soldier was shot dead by gunmen fire in southern Kirkuk city on Thursday, according to a source from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC). “Unidentified gunmen in a BMW vehicle with unknown number plates attacked an Iraqi army soldier from the 12th Division off a shopping mall in southern Kirkuk, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Three improvised explosive devices went off successively targeting Iraqi judges and forces, leaving four soldiers wounded in central Mosul city on Thursday, a security source said. “Two IEDs went off in unison near a motorcade of judges in al-Tayaran neighborhood, central Mosul, but left no casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “A third IED went off minutes later in the same spot as Iraqi forces cordoned off the site, wounding two officers and two soldiers,” the source added. He said that the first two blats targeted a motorcade of three vehicles boarding judges of the Ninewa Criminal Court from the capital Baghdad while they were heading home in the fortified area near the Ninewa Operations Command (NOC) headquarters.

#2: A policeman was shot down by gunmen inside the Ibn al-Atheer fuel station in western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The policeman, who belonged to a federal police checkpoint, came under gunmen fire inside the station,” he added.

#3: The same source said that the body of a peasant was found in the village of al-Humeira, al-Nimrod district, (40 km) southeastern Mosul. “The body, found on the banks of the River Tigris in the area, showed signs of having been shot in the head and chest,” he said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: The force said it killed a woman during an operation late on Thursday aimed at capturing a Taliban commander in the eastern province of Khost. Chasing the suspect through walled compounds, the troops opened fire after seeing a gun pointing towards them from a room. The troops later found they had killed a woman, ISAF said in a statement. "Inside the room, they found one woman dead and another with a minor wound as a result of the gunfire. An AK-47 was next to the killed female," it said.

#2: In the south, authorities said the bodies of at least 12 people, possibly private security guards, were recovered following a fierce battle with the Taliban in Helmand province. Heavy gunbattles broke out between insurgents and guards working for a road construction company in volatile Sangin district on Thursday, provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi told AFP. A dozen bodies were evacuated Friday to a hospital in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, he said. "We know that they were killed during yesterday's fighting with the Taliban. We don't know whether they are guards or workers," he said.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Kevin E. Oratowski

DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Edgar N. Roberts

War News for Thursday, August 19, 2010

The Washington Post is reporting the death of an American ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, August 18th.


Last U.S. combat troops leave Iraq

Civilians to Take U.S. Lead After Military Leaves Iraq


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: “Two bombs went off late Wednesday (Aug. 18) targeting a police vehicle patrol in al-Kesra region in al-Aadhamiya, northern Baghdad, injuring ten people, including two policemen, and damaging the car and nearby stores,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: “Two civilians were wounded when a mortar shell hit a house in Abi Nawas street near the Green Zone, central Baghdad,” the source added, noting that they were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

#3: Two civilians were wounded in an improvised explosive device explosion in eastern Baghdad on Thursday, according to a security source. “The bomb exploded in al-Baladiyat region, eastern Baghdad, injuring two civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Anti-explosives experts managed to defuse another bomb at the same place,” he added.

#4: Two civilians were wounded on Thursday by an improvised explosive device in northern Baghdad, a police source said. “The bomb went off today (Aug. 19) targeting a police vehicle patrol near Kourniesh al-Aadhamiya, northern Baghdad, injuring two passing civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A sticky bomb attached to the car of a government-backed Sahwa militia leader killed him and wounded his brother when it exploded in eastern Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.


Madean:
#1: In Madaen, southeast of Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on a security checkpoint manned by Local Awakenings Council members, killing one and wounding two others.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen using silenced guns opened fire at an Iraqi military checkpoint, killing a soldier in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol killed one civilian and wounded two soldiers when it went off in eastern Mosul, police said.

#3: Police found the body of a man with gunshot wounds to the head in the town of Bartila, west of Mosul, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two people were killed and three others were wounded when a car bomb exploded at an Iraqi police checkpoint in Ramadi on Wednesday night, police officials said.

#2: A roadside bomb exploded near a civilian car in Falluja, killing one person.

#3: A policeman was killed on Thursday by a sticky bomb in eastern Falluja, a police source said. “A bomb, stuck to the cop’s vehicle, went off on the Baghdad-Falluja road near the Cement Factory in eastern Falluja, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the blast caused material damage to the car.

#4: A policeman was killed and two more were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in northern Ramadi on Thursday, a police source said. “The bomb exploded in 5 Kilometer region, northern Ramadi, targeting a police vehicle patrol,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban fighters attacked a road construction crew Thursday in southern Afghanistan and several people have been killed and wounded, officials and witnesses said. The attack on the road crew occurred in the Sangin district of Helmand province, according to a company employee, Salam Khan Durrani. He said several people had been killed or wounded but he had no precise figures because fighting was still raging at midday. The crew was working on the main road from Sangin to the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. Sangin has been the scene of bloody fighting between the Taliban and coalition forces.

#2: In neighbouring Kandahar province, eight NATO service members were injured when their helicopter made a hard landing during a joint Afghan and coalition operation. According to initial reports, the aircraft was not taking enemy fire. An investigation is under way.

#3: In the east, a joint Afghan and NATO force killed 12 insurgents Wednesday in Puli Alam district of Logar province, the coalition said. Among those killed was Qari Muir, who had held several Taliban positions, including deputy shadow governor, military commander and the insurgent group's intelligence chief for Logar, NATO said. The insurgents were observed preparing an attack on coalition forces and were killed in airstrikes, the coalition said. A weapons cache, which included rockets, mines, ammunition and bomb-making equipment also was destroyed.

#4: Also in eastern Afghanistan, coalition and Afghan forces killed three insurgents who were members of the fundamentalist Islamic group Jamaat-ud-Dawa, NATO said. Jamaat-ud-Dawa is a Pakistan-based group that is believed to be a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which India blames for the 2009 terror attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people. The insurgents, who were killed in fighting in Pech district of Kunar province, were members of a network linked to two rocket-propelled grenade attacks that killed two U.S. service members and wounded several others, plus various other attacks on Afghan and coalition forces.

#5: NATO also reported that technical problems forced one of its unmanned aerial vehicles to make an emergency landing Wednesday in Kunduz province. The vehicle is a lightweight, medium-range reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft that is not armed.

#6: Four policemen and a NATO soldier were killed in separate attacks by insurgents in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, reports quoting the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan officials said on Thursday. The district police chief of Daman in Kandahar province was traveling to the provincial capital in a vehicle along with three policemen when an explosives-laden car rammed into it. A civilian was also killed in the blast.

#7: At least eight militants were killed and three others injured in a military operation launched on Thursday by the Pakistani army in the country's northwest tribal area of Upper Orakzai, reported local media. Thursday's military action against the militants is the second largest operation of its kind launched by the Pakistani army over the last couple of weeks. On Wednesday, the Pakistani army killed 18 militants and injured 10 others in a gunship helicopter strike launched in the adjacent area of Kuuram agency.

#8: At least 16 people were injured in a handgrenade attack Thursday morning in district Bannu in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, local media reported. According to the reports, an unidentified person has attacked a shop with a handgrenade in the crowded downtown oil bazaar.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Derek J. Farley

DoD: Pfc. Benjamen G. Chisholm

DoD: Pvt. Charles M. High, IV