War News for Saturday, September 18, 2010

The DoD is reporting a new death unreported by the military. Sgt. Ryan J. Hopkins died at the Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 8th 2010. He was injured from a vehicle accident in Baghdad, Iraq on Saturday, October 4th, 2008.

The DoD is reporting another new death previously unreported by the military. Sgt. John F. Burner III died from a non-combat related injury in Iskandayiya, Iraq on Thursday, September 16th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, September 17th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi soldier was killed and 11 people were wounded in an overnight double bomb explosions which struck the Iraqi army in a Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source and a witness said on Saturday. The attack took place at about 11:00 p.m. on Friday (2000 GMT) when a bomb exploded in Baghdad's western neighborhood of al- Khadraa near a crowd of Iraqi soldiers and civilians who gathered near a previous explosion at the scene, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Six soldiers were among the wounded people, the source said.

An Iraqi soldier was killed and five others wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in al-Khadraa neighborhood, western Baghdad, on Friday, a local Iraqi police source said. “A stun charge went off near a gathering of civilians and military persons, followed by an IED blast that left a policeman killed and five military servicemen, including two officers, wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion also left four civilians injured,” the source added.

#2: Two policemen were wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in northern Baghdad on Friday, a local security source said. “An IED went off near a police patrol in the area of al-Adhamiya, northern Baghdad, leaving two policemen wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: An official at the interior ministry’s passports affairs department was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in western Baghdad on Friday, a local Iraqi police official said. “An IED attached to the official’s vehicle went off near al-Sa’a restaurant in al-Mansour area, western Baghdad, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: A roadside bomb went off in Athamiyah neighbourhood, north Baghdad, Friday, without causing any casualties.


Hawija:
#1: Two people were killed and nine others, including a policeman, wounded in a bicycle bomb blast in al-Huweija district, southwestern Kirkuk, on Friday, a senior police officials said. “A bicycle bomb went off near a police patrol in central Huweija, (65 km) southwest of Kirkuk, leaving two local residents killed and nine others, including a patrolman, wounded and causing damage in the site,” Brig. Sarhad Qader, the director of the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD), told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: One unidentified body was found in Kirkuk city, Friday. It was covered with gun-shot wounds.


Mosul:
#1: An army force shot dead a gunman and arrested four others in a raid searching for wanted persons in eastern Mosul city on Friday, an Iraqi military source said. “A force from the Iraqi army’s 2nd Division stationed in Mosul, acting upon intelligence tip-offs, killed a gunman during a raid on a hideout in al-Zahraa neighborhood, eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An off-duty soldier was killed by gunmen in a marketplace in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a police source in the provincial police operations centre said.

#3: A suspected militant was killed in a gunfight when an Iraqi army unit raided a house in eastern Mosul, a media official in the 2nd Iraqi Army Division said. Four suspected militants were arrested and an explosives belt seized.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Rocket attacks by Taliban insurgents claimed two civilians' lives and injured two others in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province on the voting day on Saturday, police said. "One rocket fired by Taliban rebels hit the provincial capital Assadabad this morning, leaving one child dead and another wounded, " provincial police chief Khalilullah Ziae told Xinhua. Another rocket hit Asmar district, killing a woman and injuring a man, the official added.

Rocket attacks killed six people in eastern provinces Kunar and Nangarhar, and Takhar in the north, local officials said.

and three others struck the eastern city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, officials said. There were no reports of casualtys.

#2: Insurgents also fired a rocket near NATO headquarters in Kabul shortly before polls opened at 0230 GMT, but no casualties or damage were reported.

#3: Toryalai Wesa, the governor of Kandahar province said he survived a roadside bomb attack while visiting polling centres in the volatile region.

#4: A bomb attack at a polling centre in the eastern city of Khost -- not far from the Pakistan border -- wounded three people, while 16 Afghan security personnel were wounded in clashes in the north, local officials said.

#5: In a southern neighbourhood of Kabul, a roadside bomb exploded near a polling station 40 minutes before opening. Voting did not start because of the blast.

#6: The Australian Defense Department on Saturday confirmed that several hundred Afghanistan locals turned on Australian soldiers, after a rumor that Australian troops were burning copies of the Koran. According to ABC News, the Australian soldiers were conducting a regular burn-off of rubbish and documents in a pit north of the main army base near Tarin Kowt, when an angry mob of local men threw rocks and forced the soldiers back into the base. The Defense statement also said that one protester aimed an AK- 47 rifle at one of the coalition soldiers, who then shot the protester.

#7: A Taliban attack near a polling station in Afghanistan's north killed one Afghan soldier and six pro-government militiamen on Saturday, police said. "One national army and six Arbaki (militiamen) were killed in the attack," Baghlan's police chief, Abdul Rahman Rahimi, told reporters by phone. Five others were wounded in the attack in Baghlan province, which took place near a polling station and an adjacent security outpost.


DoD: Sgt. John F. Burner III

DoD: Sgt. Aaron K. Kramer

DoD: Senior Airman Daniel R. Sanchez

IT/DoD: Lieutenant Alexander Romans