War News for Monday, December 27, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, December 27th.


UN maps show security worsening in Afghanistan: report

Taliban Fighters Appear Quieted in Afghanistan


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi police officer, with a major rank, has escaped an assassination attempt on Monday, when an explosive charge planted by unknown gunmen, blew off close to his house in southwest Baghdad, according to a security source. “An explosive charge blew off in front of the house of a police officer with a major rank in southwest Baghdad’s Saydiya district on Monday, wounding the officer and a civilian, and causing huge damage to the offficer’s house and his car,” the security source said.

#2: An Iraqi civilian and a security element have been injured in an attack by unknown gunmen west of Baghdad on Monday, a security source said. “A group of unknown armed men have opened machinegun fire on an Interior Ministry vehicle, wounding its driver and a civilian who was driving his car close to west Baghdad’s Yarmouk Hospital on Monday,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Gunmen using silenced weapons wounded two police officers when they opened fire on the Interior Ministry's anti-crime department in Baghdad's west-central Yarmouk district, an Interior Ministry source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: An Iraqi Army officer has been killed and three soldiers were injured in an Improvised ExpLosive Device (IED) blast in Baaquba, the center of northeast Iraq’s Diala Province, on Sunday, according to a Diala Security source. “An IED blew off on Sunday night against an Iraqi Army vehicle on the main highway connecting Baaquba with Khalis township, 15 kms to the north of the city, killing an Army officer, with a major rank, and wounding three soldiers,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Dujail:
#1: An Iraqi women has been killed and a civilian wounded in an exposive charge blast aimed at a U.S. Army patrol in Salahaddin Province on Monday, a police source said. “An explosive charge, planted on the roadside, had blown off against a U.S. Army patrol in Dujail township, 110 kms to the south of Tikrit, the center of Salahaddin Province, killing a woman and wounding a civilian,” the police sourc said.


Samarra:
#1: Two suicide bombers, wearing two explosive belts, have been killed by a military force belonging to Samarra city’s military operations command on Sunday, a command source said. “A military source, belonging to the said command, had killed two suicide bombers, wearing explosive belts, close to a checkpoint in Samarra’s Armoushiya area on Sunday, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Monday. He said the suicide bombers refused to obey orders by the checkpoint’s soldiers to stop, forcing the soldiers to open fire on them, causing the explosion of their explosive belts, killing them both, away from the checkpoint.


Ramadi:
#1: Two suicide bombers have killed at least 14 people in the Iraqi town of Ramadi, say officials and police. The attacks were the second targeting a government compound in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, this month. Reports suggest one bomber blew up a vehicle, and minutes later another detonated an explosives vest as people gathered at the scene. At least four police of those killed were police officers. At least 47 people have been wounded. "A car bomb exploded near the Anbar provincial government offices around 0930 (0630 GMT) followed about 15 minutes later by a suicide bombing," said a police spokesman, Major Rahim Zabin, according to AFP news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Suspected U.S. missiles struck two vehicles in a Taliban stronghold on Pakistan's side of the border with Afghanistan on Monday, killing 18 alleged militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The six missiles fired Monday struck the vehicles in the Shera Tala village of North Waziristan. Shera Tala lies in Mir Ali district, where militants are heavily concentrated. The exact identities of the 18 dead were not immediately certain. The vehicles were apparently leaving a compound, and one was carrying a large load of ammunition, magnifying the blasts from the missile strikes, the intelligence officials said.

#2: A car bomb exploded in the heart of the southern city of Kandahar on Monday, killing three people, an Afghan policeman at the scene said. The blast also wounded 26 people, most of them policemen, officials said. The car detonated at midday near a police compound and a branch of Kabul Bank in the crowded center of the city, said policeman Noor Mohammad, who was guarding the bank.

#3: Two NATO helicopter gunships violated Pakistan's air space in its northwest border area Monday morning, reported local English TV channel Express.According to the report, the helicopters penetrated into the Pakistani territory near Torkham and remained there for about five minutes before they returned to Afghanistan.No firings have been reported.Such incidents occurred several times in the last few months.

#4: Pakistani militants have attacked a NATO supply truck carrying commodities for the US-led forces stationed in Afghanistan and killed its driver. Officials told Press TV that late on Sunday, unknown armed militants opened fire on the vehicle in Mastung, a town in the southwestern province of Balochistan. The NATO truck was damaged in the attack, they further explained. The truck was on its way from Karachi city to Kandahar in Afghanistan and was carrying goods for the NATO forces stationed in the war-torn country. The attackers escaped from the area just after the attack.

#5: Intelligence officials and tribal elders say the Pakistani Taliban have kidnapped 23 tribesmen who recently met the army chief. Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq says the abductions are a warning to civilians that the militants are still strong in South Waziristan, despite an ongoing military offensive. The abductees were part of a group that welcomed army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to South Waziristan Dec. 7. Intelligence officials say the militants lured the victims to a town bordering North Waziristan and then kidnapped them.

#6: authorities found the body of a tribesman killed by suspected militants in the region (North Waziristan region) on suspicions of spying for the United States. A written note lying near the body said that "anyone found to be spying for America will meet the same fate"