War News for Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The DND/CF is reporting the death of a Canadian ISAF soldier from an IED blast in the Panjwa’i district, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan on Sunday, March 27th. Here's the ISAF release.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier during an insurgent attack in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, March 29th.


Clashes Fuel Debate Over U.S. Plan to Leave Iraq


Reported security incidents
Baghdad:
#1: A major at the military academy was seriously wounded and two of his brothers were killed when gunmen wearing military uniforms attacked them in Bani Zaid village in Al Hamadani District, western Baghdad, a police source said.

#2: In a separate incident, a Katyusha hit the green zone, central Baghdad.

Iraqi officials say a rocket fired at the Green Zone in Baghdad has killed a bystander and wounded four others. The rocket landed around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday near a small hotel across the Tigris River from the heavily fortified area that houses government offices and foreign embassies. A policeman at the scene said a second Katyusha rocket landed inside the Green Zone but there were no immediate reports of casualties. A second policeman said one person was killed and four wounded. A doctor confirmed the casualties. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information.

#3: “An IED blew up in central Baghad’s Tayaran Square, close to the Interior Ministry’s building, targeted against a Ministry patrol. The blast wounded three civilians, who were driven to hospital for treatment,” the security source added.

#4: “Another IED blew up in west Baghdad’s Amiriya district, wounding three civilians, who were also driven to hospital,” the source added.

#5: “Three other civilians have been injured in an IED blast, close to the Iraqi Olympic Committee’s headquarters, wounding 3 civilians,

#6: whilst a fourth blast took place in al-Shaab district, wounding 4 civilians,” he concluded.

The Deputy Governor of Baghdad, Mohammed al-Shimmary, has escaped an assassination attempt on Monday, when an IED (improvised explosive device) blew up against his motorcade in western Baghdad, a security source said. “An IED blew up on Monday morning, close to Al-Shaab (People’s) Stadium in Baghdad on Monday, targeted against the motorcade of Baghdad’s Deputy Governor, Dr. Mohammed al-Simmary,” the security source said. Although Dr. Shimmary escaped the assassination attempt, the source noted that four civilians, who close to the location of the attack, were injured and taken to hospital for treatment.

#7: Three armed men have been killed when their car blew up in western Baghdad on Monday, the Baghdad Operations Command reported. “Three terrorists have been killed, when a car they were driving, carrying two explosive charges, anti-armor mines and other weapons, blew up in western Baghdad’s Amiriya district,” the Command said in a statement.

#8: It also said that an improvised explosive device (IED) blew up in west Baghdad’s Canal Street, causing no losses or casualties.

#9: Three civilians were killed and 13 others were wounded in an armed robbery in eastern Baghdad on Monday, the Baghdad Operations Command said. "An armed group attacked two jewelry stores in Ali al-Naama market in al-Qahera neighborhood region, eastern Baghdad, killing three civilians and injuring 13," the BOC said in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The group detonated two bombs, killed citizens and stole an amount of gold."

#10: An employee, his wife and two civilians were wounded in a sticky bomb explosion in western Baghdad, according to a security source. “A bomb, attached to a vehicle of an employee, working for the communication ministry, went off on Monday evening in al-Khadraa region, western Baghdad, seriously injuring him, his wife and two more civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
#1: The Director of the Criminal Police in northeast Iraq’s Diala Province has escaped an assassination attempt in its central city of Baaquba on Monday, according to Diala’s Police Media Director. “Diala’s Criminal Police Director, Lt. Brigadier Ali Hassaan, has escaped an assassination attempt in central Baaquba’s Teachers District, while on his way to work,” Colonel Ghalib Attiya told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said that Lt. Brigadier Hassaan’s guards have managed to detain the attacker, who he said “belongs to an armed cell, specialized in assassinations, led by al-Qaeda organization. The attacker was carrying a gun with silencer attached.”


Abu Ghraib:
#1: A bombing targeted on Tuesday morning an army patrol in a popular market, central Abu Ghraib District. In a separate incident, a roadside bomb struck an Iraqi army patrol at a popular market in Abu Ghraib area, damaging a military vehicle and wounding two soldiers aboard, the source said.


Mussayab:
#1: A bomb in a parked car killed one civilian and wounded 16 in the town of Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.


Tikrit:
#1: Gunmen stormed into the provincial council headquarters in former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s home city of Tikrit and held people hostage, police said on Tuesday. The gunmen, wearing army uniforms, took people inside Salahuddin’s provincial council building hostage, police said. A Reuters correspondent at the scene, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, said Iraqi security forces and U.S. soldiers had surrounded the building.


Mosul: #1: Six women and a young man from one family have been killed by a group of unknown gunmen in northern Iraq’s city of Mosul, a Ninewa security source said on Monday. “A group of unknown gunmen have killed a family of seven inside their house in west Mosul’s al-Tanak district late on Monday,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Gunmen in a speeding car killed an off-duty policeman near his house in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad on Monday evening, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb wounded a police captain in eastern Mosul late on Monday, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Friendly fire killed 13 Pakistani soldiers whose deaths were initially blamed on Islamist militants in the Taliban-infested tribal belt on the Afghan border, a commander said. Security officials at first said 14 soldiers were killed during fighting on Monday (local time) in the Shindhand area of Khyber, part of Pakistan's tribal belt that Washington has branded a global headquarters of Al Qaeda. But north-west military commander Lieutenant-General Asif Yasin Malik told reporters on Tuesday that 13 soldiers died due to mortar fire called in by the commanding officer after his troops came under attack. "When our soldiers came under fire, the commanding officer called mortar fire twice. The second mortar missed its target and hit our own soldiers," he said in the north-western capital of Peshawar. "Two officers and 11 soldiers were martyred. There is a possibility of error in mortar fire when troops are themselves under fire." "Several militants were killed and arrested."

#2: Two US-led soldiers have been wounded after their armored vehicle hit a landmine in western Afghanistan province of Farah, Afghan officials say. A police source said the incident came overnight when the mine exploded on the way of a joint Afghan-foreign convoy in a village in Farah city, a Press TV correspondent reported Tuesday.

#3: In another incident in Farah, the convoy of an Afghan army hit a landmine in a village in the province. Taliban claims that at least eight Afghan troops were killed in the explosion. Afghan defense ministry, however, refutes the casualty figure.

#4: Unidentified armed men gutted a NATO oil supplying tanker in Sohrab area of Qalat on Monday. Police said that some unidentified armed men opened fire on two NATO oil supplying tankers when they were on the way to Afghanistan. Resultantly a tanker caught fire and the driver sustained injuries.

#5: Meanwhile, a doctor was kidnapped by unidentified miscreants from Golimar Chowk area. However, no group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

#6: A young Afghan boy has been shot and is in a critical condition after a battle between Australian troops and insurgents, Australian Defense Force confirmed on Tuesday. Australian soldiers were working alongside Afghan police when they were attacked with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, while patrolling in the Deh Rafshan area in Oruzgan province on Sunday. According to the Department of Defense, one insurgent was killed in the battle and the local boy was later found with gunshot wounds to the upper body.

#7: The Taliban seized control of a district in eastern Nuristan Province on Tuesday, chasing the governor and police from the district capital, according to Afghan officials and a spokesman for the Taliban. The Nuristan police commander, Gen. Shams-ul-Rahman Zahid, confirmed that police had withdrawn from the capital of the Waygal District, leaving the Taliban in what he said was temporary control of the area. “Police forces have tactically withdrawn from the district center early this morning about 5 a.m. following harsh fighting and due to lack of ammunition, and to avoid civilian casualties,” General Zahid said in a telephone interview. “We are planning a counterattack to retake the district,” he said. “We will reinforce and retake the district soon from the insurgents.”


DoD: Spc. Justin D. Ross

DND/CF: Corporal Yannick Scherrer