War News for Friday, March 25, 2011

Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Three civilians were wounded in an improvised explosive device blast on al-Nidal street in central Baghdad on Thursday, a local security source said. “A roadside IED went off on al-Nidal street, near the Baghdad souk (outdoor market), central Baghdad, leaving three civilians wounded and a parked vehicle damaged,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An army force seized on Friday 16 Katyusha rockets in northwestern Baghdad, official spokesperson of the Baghdad Operations Command said. “A force from the 22nd brigade of the 6th division of the Iraqi army seized 16 Katyusha rockets ready to be launched in the square between al-Houriya region and al-Aadl neighborhood, northwestern Baghdad,” General Qassem Atta told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Two civilians were killed and three injured when a bomb went off on a main road in the western part of Mosul, located some 400 kilometres north of Baghdad. 'The bomb was targeting police patrols which pass through this road frequently,' Mohamed Al-Jabouri, head of Mosul's security operations, told the German Press Agency dpa.

#2: In a separate incident late Thursday, three gunmen were killed in clashes with the police in Mosul, among the most ethnically-diverse and dangerous cities in Iraq. Insurgents mount near-daily attacks there.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Meanwhile, in the western city of Ramadi, gunmen blew up the house of a journalist on Friday. The attack left seven members of his family, including three children, injured.

#2: Three civilians were wounded on Friday in a roadside bomb explosion in central Falluja, according to a security source. “The bomb exploded this morning near al-Rafidyeen Bank, central Falluja, injuring three civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A roadside bomb killed two children Friday in eastern Afghanistan. One more child was injured in the attack in the east, which took place in the Behsood district of Nangarhar province, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the provincial governor. The explosives were hidden in garbage near a main road frequented by Afghan and foreign troops, he said, adding that an investigation was under way.

#2: Also on Friday, a joint Afghan and German military patrol was hit by a roadside bomb in the Chardarah district of Kunduz province, said Gholam Muhaiyuddin, the district police chief. 'One policeman was killed and a police vehicle was destroyed in the attack, but there were no other casualties among the Afghan or foreign forces,' he said.

#3: Gunmen attacked a minibus carrying mostly Shiite Muslims and killed eight people on Friday in a stretch of northwestern Pakistan. The gunmen who carried out the ambush in the Bagan area of the Kurram tribal region also kidnapped 18 people from the bus, said Javid Khan, a local administrator. The bus was attacked as it was travelling on the main road that runs through Kurram that connects the main town in the region, Parachinar, with Peshawar, the capital of nearby Khyber Pakhtunwkha province, said Khan. Five people were wounded in the attack, said Khan. The bus was mostly carrying people from the Toori tribe, one of the main Shiite tribes that struck the peace deal, he said. A similar attack killed nine people in mid-March who were travelling on the road from Parachinar, a Shiite-dominated town.

Three passenger buses were kidnapped on Friday by unidentified militants from semi autonomous tribal area located in the northwest of Pakistan, local media reported, quoting official sources. According to local Urdu TV channel Dunya, the three passenger buses with some 45 people on board were abducted by unidentified militants from Kurram agency of the Federally Administrated Tribal Area of Pakistan.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Joshua S. Gire

DoD: Pfc. Michael C. Mahr