War News for Wednesday, December 05, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, January 5th.


Resurgent Turkey Flexes Its Muscles Around Iraq

China Rolls Out Its First Stealth Aircraft (a photo can be found here)

Tribe's deal with Afghan government offers chance of peace in southwest district


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An employee in the Iraqi Housing Ministry was killed when gunmen using silenced weapons opened fire on him while driving his car in al-Waziriyah district in northern central Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#2: A female lawyer escaped an attempt on her life on Tuesday in central Baghdad, a security source said. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on the lawyer while passing near al-Muthanna airport in central Baghdad, injuring her seriously,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: A police captain was wounded on Tuesday in an armed attack by guns with silencers in eastern Baghdad, according to a source from the interior ministry. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on Tuesday evening (Jan. 4) using guns with silencers on a police captain in al-Baldiyat region, eastern Baghdad, seriously injuring him,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: A bomb stuck to a gate of a residence in Al Shohadaa’ District, western Baghdad, killed an old woman and wounded her son.


Dalouiya:
#1: Two civilians were killed Tuesday in an improvised explosive device blast in eastern Dalouiya, according to a police source. “The bomb, planted on an old road in al-Mashrouaa village, eastern Dalouiya, went off, killing two passing civilians, 15 and 16,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Taji:
#1: In a separate incident, a roadside bomb went off near a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims travelling in Taji area north of Baghdad, wounding four pilgrims, the source said.


Tarmiya:
#1: Four persons from the same family were wounded on Tuesday in a bomb explosion in northern Baghdad, according to a police source. “Unknown gunmen attacked a house of a Sahwa element in al-Tarmiya region, northern Baghdad, using an explosive charge, wounding four of his family and damaging his car and house,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: The governor of Pakistan’s central Punjab province, a senior member of the ruling party, was shot dead by one of his bodyguards Tuesday, deepening a political crisis in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation. Salman Taseer, a liberal politician close to President Asif Ali Zardari, had no day-to-day role in the central government, but his killing in broad daylight at a shopping center in Islamabad reinforces the sense that the government is incapable of stabilizing the Muslim country of 170 million. A witness said Taseer was stepping out of his car at a shopping area when he was shot.

#2: Taliban-linked militants have attacked a NATO supply convoy carrying food supplies for US-led forces in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region of Kurram. Witnesses say militants looted and torched seven trucks carrying food supplies for US-led forces stationed in neighboring Afghanistan. The militants have reportedly escaped the area following the attack.

#3: An Australian soldier has been shot in the arm while on patrol in Afghanistan. Defence says the digger was working alongside the Afghan national army in the Chorah Valley region of Uruzgan on Tuesday morning when his patrol was attacked with small arms fire. 'The patrol returned fire, with mortar support, and stabilised the wounded soldier prior to his aero medical evacuation to Tarin Kot,' Defence said in a statement.

#4: Two insurgents were killed during an operation by Afghan troops and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the central province of Wardak on Tuesday, ISAF said. The operaton targeted a Taliban leader, the coalition said.

#5: Several insurgents were killed during an operation by Afghan troops and ISAF in central Ghazni province on Tuesday targeting a Taliban weapons facilitator, ISAF said.