War News for Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Over 15,000 U.S. servicemen to remain in Iraq beyond 2011 deadline

Ministry of Human Rights: 14025 missing persons in Iraq since 2003


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: In Baghdad, gunmen using silenced weapons shot dead Hatam Kareem, an official with Baghdad governor's office, near his house in al-Amil district in southwestern the capital late on Monday night, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#2: An improvised explosive device attached to a presidential vehicle went off in southern Baghdad on Monday, leaving two persons aboard wounded, a security source in Baghdad said. “The IED, attached to a presidential pickup truck, went off near Dhu al-Tabiqayn bridge in the area of al-Jadiriya, southern Baghdad, leaving two persons aboard injured,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: A bomb attached to a pick-up truck wounded two of its passengers when it went off in Baghdad's central Karrada district, an Interior Ministry source said.


Kirkuk:
#1: In Kirkuk province, two children were killed and four people wounded when gunmen planted bombs around the homes of two police officers and blew them up in the town of Hawija, 60 km west of the provincial capital city of Kirkuk, Sarhat Abdul-Qader, a police chief in Kirkuk province told Xinhua.

#2: Separately, two people were wounded when gunmen bombed the house of a municipal official in the town of al-Ryadh, some 50 km southwest of Kirkuk City, Qader said.

#3: Also in the province, the police found the body of a policeman on a main road northeast of the city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, Qader added. The victim went missing on Monday and his body has signs of gunshot in the head, he said.

#4: Iraqi soldiers and Kurdish peshmerga fighters exchanged gunfire in the ethnic mixed city of Kirkuk on Monday, killing a civilian and wounding four people, a local police source said. The clashes erupted in Atlas Street in central Kikruk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, after a quarrel between Iraqi army force and peshmerga fighters guarding a Kurdish party office, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The gunfire killed a civilian and wounded two peshmerga fighters as well as two soldiers, the source said.

#5: A policeman was wounded when a roadside bomb went off in central Hawija, 210 km (130 miles) north of Baghdad, Kirkuk police operations room said.

#6: Iraqi troops freed three Turkish workers and one Iraqi who had been held hostage in a village near Hawija, Kirkuk police operations room said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: "A group of militants opened fire on a line of oil trucks destined for US forces in Roza area of Ghazni, located 136 kilometers (84 miles) south of the capital Kabul, early on Tuesday, leaving seven tankers on fire," a Press TV correspondent reported. The assailants later fled the scene. Their whereabouts are unknown. Zorawar Zahid, police chief of Ghazni, said that seven fuel tankers were set on fire in the act of terror. He noted that police cordoned off the area after the incident and have launched a search operation to arrest the perpetrators.

#2: Two suicide bombers were the only victims when they detonated their explosive-packed vests in the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand Tuesday, the provincial government said. The bombers targeted private security guards escorting a convoy in Gireshk district, the Helmand governor's office said in a statement. Two security guards were slightly injured, it said.

#3: A suicide bomber driving a tractor was killed when his explosives detonated prematurely in the Barmal district of southeastern Paktika province on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said.

#4: Twin bomb attacks on two buses of the Pakistan navy killed at least two navy officers and two other people in the southern port city of Karachi on Tuesday, a navy spokesman said. The spokesman said in a statement that 56 people, mostly navy personnel, were injured in the attacks in two different places. Navy officer Sub-Lt. Muhammad Iqbal and a navy lady doctor Ms. Nadia were among those killed, the spokesman said. A police officer, Raja Omar, said that both bombs were detonated through planted bombs exploded with the help of remote control or mobile device. Police said that both buses were carrying employees of the navy buses to work when came under attacks. Police sources said that bombs were attached to motorcycles and were parked on the routes of the navy buses. The first attack took place at Defense area of Karachi when a motorcycle exploded near the bus. The bus was carrying some 50 employees of the Pakistan Navy, a police officer said. Two navy officers were killed and 37 others were injured in the first blast, the navy spokesman said. Another blast was reported in the navy bus in Baldia Town area of Karachi, killing two and injuring 19 others, the spokesman said.


DoD: Chief Warrant Officer, Terry L. Varnadore II

DoD: Sgt. Sean T. Callahan

DoD: Lance Cpl. Dominic J. Ciaramitaro

DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin F. Bitner