War News for Friday, December 17, 2010

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

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, December 17th.


Experts urge Iraq to get peaceful nuclear reactors

Iraq gets first delivery of attack copters from U.S.

U.S. cannot pull out of Afghanistan


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Unidentified gunmen assassinated the former director of the electricity ministry’s information department in Baghdad on Thursday, according to a security source. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Aziz Sultan Jassim from silenced guns on Falastine street, eastern Baghdad, killing him instantly and escaping to an unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Two soldiers were wounded Friday by gunmen in western Mosul, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on two soldiers near al-Sham gate in western Mosul, injuring them,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Three suspected U.S. drone missile strikes killed 24 militants on Friday in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber region on the Afghan border, intelligence officials said, the fourth attack in two days. The attacks on Friday in Tirah valley occurred within hours of each other. "We have initial reports of some 24 suspected militants killed in three attacks today," one intelligence official in the region said. Another intelligence official confirmed the figure, saying four suspected militants were killed in the third attack.

#2: A mortar attack killed at least six people, including women and children in Hangu, police said. The attack also wounded eight others, police said. Mortars slammed into two houses in Hangu, a town that has been a flashpoint for sectarian clashes between Pakistan’s Shia and Sunni Muslim communities. They were fired from the neighbouring district of Orakzai, part of Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal areas with Afghanistan. “Mortars were fired from Orakzai and hit two houses in Hangu. Six people were killed and eight injured,” Gul Jamal, a local police official, told AFP.

#3: A suicide bomber was killed in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province Friday when his explosive vest was detonated prematurely, a police official said. "A suicide bomber was killed inside the big mosque in Panjwai district's bazaar when his explosive vest went off prematurely at around 4 a.m. local time," Azam Khan, the police chief of Panjwai district, told Xinhua.