War News for Tuesday, August 17, 2010

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 17th. News reports these to be American soldiers.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in western Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 17th. News reports this is also an American.


Suicide Bomber Attacks Police in North Caucasus


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A suicide bomber blew himself up Tuesday among hundreds of army recruits who had gathered near a military headquarters in an attack officials said killed 60 and wounded 125, one of the bloodiest bombings in months in the Iraqi capital. Yasir Ali, who had been waiting outside the military headquarters since 4 a.m. with about 1,000 other hopeful recruits, said he saw the bomber, describing him as a blond young man. Ali said the bomber was sitting quietly among the recruits, then walked up to an officer collecting I.D. cards and blew himself up. Tuesdays' blast took place around 7:30 a.m. outside the former Iraqi Ministry of Defense building that now houses the army's 11th division headquarters. The site receives about 250 new recruits each week as Iraqi security forces try to bolster their ranks to prepare for the U.S. military's looming withdrawal after seven years of war.

#2: The head of the Iraqi Cassation Court was wounded on Tuesday when a roadside bomb hit his car in western Baghdad. “The blast occurred in al-Yarmook neighbourhood, western Baghdad,” a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Three judges were wounded on Tuesday when a roadside bomb hit their civilian vehicle southwest of Baaquba city. “The blast occurred at the major street in Baladroz district, 45 km southwest of Baaquba,” a local provincial source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. In addition to the three judges, a policeman was also wounded as he was with the judges in the same vehicle.


Kirkuk:
#1-2: Two patrols of U.S. and police forces came under two bomb explosions in southern and western Kirkuk, without leaving casualties, two security sources said on Monday. “An explosives charge went off at 10:20am on Monday (Aug. 16) near U.S. patrol on the Taza-Lilan road in Lilan district, southern Kirkuk,” a source from the joint coordination center in Kirkuk told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Another bomb exploded targeting a police vehicle patrol in al-Huweija district, southwest of Kirkuk, at 9:00 am, causing some material damage,” he added.


Mosul:
#1: One civilian was killed and his son was wounded by army forces in eastern Mosul, a police source said on Monday. “One civilian was killed and his son was injured in a random shootout in al-Jazaer neighborhood, eastern Mosul, when army forces were tracking down gunmen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on and killed a relative of a provincial councilman from the western province of Anbar just outside the city of Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A bomb blast in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province in south Afghanistan claimed the life of tribal elder and injured two others on Tuesday, spokesman for provincial administration Zalmai Ayubi said. "The tribal elder Hajji Zukria was sitting in his shop in Spin Boldak bazaar when a bomb planted by militants went off killing him on the spot and injured two of his friends," Ayubi told Xinhua. He did not provide more details. However, locals described Hajji Zukria as pro-government chieftains and blamed Taliban militants for the attack.

#2: A remote-controlled bomb on a motorcycle parked on a bridge in the southern city of Ghazni detonated prematurely on Tuesday, killing two passers-by and wounding another five, including two children, police told AFP. The blast took place just as a police convoy was about to pass, said Mohammad Osman, commander of Afghanistan's southeastern police zone. "Two civilians were martyred and another five were wounded," he said. The bomber had been planning to trigger the device by remote control and was injured in the explosion and has been arrested, Osman said.

#3: In a similar incident late Monday, a roadside bomb ripped through a civilian vehicle in Shindand district, in the western province of Herat, killing five civilians and injuring two, said Lal Mohammad Omarzai, the district chief. "Three women, a man and a child were killed and two other women were hurt," he said.

#4: Six policemen were poisoned and then killed on Monday afternoon in turbulent Kandahar province by the Taliban, provincial officials said. Kandahar Police Chief remarked that the policemen were killed after they ate poisoned food at iftar (fast breaking time) in Dand district of Kandahar. Provincial security officials acknowledged that investigations are on the ground tracking the event. The food was poisoned by their cook and the cook has escaped with the Taliban, officials added.

#5: Afghan and ISAF troops killed six insurgents while in pursuit of a former Taliban commander in northern Kunduz on Monday, ISAF said.


MoD: Sapper Ishwor Gurung

DoD: Staff Sgt. Michael A. Bock