War News for Tuesday, May 31, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, May 30th.

NATO is reporting the death of another ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, May 30th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Four civilians were hit by a bomb blast in west Baghdad, security sources said today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the bomb was planted on the side of the road.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two civilians were killed when a roadside bomb went off southwest of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Unknown gunmen assassinated two cops west of Mosul, security forces said today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the two cops belong to the Federal Police in New Mosul area. He added that the two cops were within the vicinity of a check point.

#2: Three civilians were wounded when gunmen attacked an Iraqi military patrol with grenades in the western part of the city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Another rocket fell late Monday outside an Afghanistan base where South Korean aid workers and troops are stationed, but there were no injuries, Foreign Ministry officials said Tuesday. “One rocket fell south of the base in Charikar at around 11:27 p.m. Monday local time. There were no injuries and damages to our facilities there,” a ministry official told reporters, declining to be named.

#2: Pakistani warplanes attacked Taliban positions in the northwestern Orakzai region on Tuesday, killing 17 militants, a senior regional government official said. Residents in the town of Mamoozai, where the air strike took place, said several helicopter gunships were hovering overhead hours after the attack.

#3: On Tuesday, gunmen on a motorcycle attacked and torched two NATO trucks in southwestern Baluchistan province, a provincial government official said.

#4: Nato forces violated Pakistani airspace on Monday as two of its helicopters intruded into the Pakistani territory. Sources said that two Nato choppers entered the Pakistani airspace to hunt insurgents in the border area of North Waziristan Agency (NWA). The Nato helicopters entered the border area, claiming that five members of the Haqqani network have been arrested after the search operation. It is worth mentioning here that two Nato helicopters had violated Pakistan’s airspace at Admi Kot post in North Waziristan Agency last week and had fired at the army check post, injuring two security personnel.

#5: Two officers were injured Tuesday when their police car hit a bomb in northern Afghanistan, an official said. "In the first place we thought that it is a suicide explosion but, it was a roadside (bomb) and the police vehicle was totally destroyed," said General Hafiz Khan, a military official in Baghlan province.

#6: A remote-controlled bomb exploded at a railway track in the southern province of Sindh, derailing three coaches of a train, police said. There were no casualties.


AU/DoD: Lieutenant Marcus Sean Case

AU/DoD: Lance Corporal Andrew Gordon Jones

War News for Monday, May 30, 2011

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, May 28th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, May 28th. These were two German soldiers killed in a suicide attack in Talokan, Afghanistan.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a small arms attack from an apparent ANA soldier in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, May 30th.


Haqqani insurgent group proves resilient foe in Afghan war


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: “Five persons, including 2 policemen, have been injured in an explosive charge blast against a police patrol in east Baghdad’s Palestine Street on Monday,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: He said that a civilian has been killed and 4 others injured in an explosive charge blast on the roadside in west Baghdad’s al-Shaab district, also on Monday.

#3: “An explosive charge blast on southwestern Baghdad’s al-Rashid Military Camp, blew up against a private security company motorcade, wounding 2 civilians.

#4: a police officer, with a lieutenant rank, was injured in an explosive charge blast agaisnthis car on Sunday night in southeast Baghdad’s “New Baghdad” district.

#5: “A Professor in the Islamic Sciences Collage of Baghdad University was injured in an explosive charge blast under his car, while passing through western Baghdad’s al-Khadhraa district, on Monday night,” the security source added.


Kut:
#1: An explosive charge blew off against a U.S. Army patrol in southern Iraq’s Kut city on Monday, but losses were not known, a Wassit security source said. “An explosive charge blew off in southern Iraq’s Kut’s main street against an American Army patrol early on Monday,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said the U.S. forces have imposed a cordon around the venue of the blast, preventing people to approach the place, whilst Iraqi police forces closed all the roads leading to the area.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: An explosive charge, planted on the roadside in northern Baghdad’s Abu-Ghuraib township, blew off against an Army patrol early on Monday, killing 2 soldiers and wounding 6 others,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: The Assistant Director of the state-owned Northern Cement Company and a civilian has been killed, and the official’s bodyguard was injured, in an armed attack west of Mosul on Monday, according to a Mosul security source. “Two armed men opened fire early on Monday on the car of the Assistant Director of the Northern Cement Company, Arkan Jihad, killing Jihad and a civilian, along with wounding his bodyguard, in western Mosul early on Monday,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: The Governor of northern Iraq’s Ninewa Province, Athil al-Nujaify, has escaped an assassination attempt in its center city of Mosul, when an explosive charge blew off against his motorcade in the city, a Mosul security source said on Monday. “An explosive charge blew off against the motorcade of Nujeify, when it passed through Tiloul-al-Baj area, south of Mosul, while on his way for Baghdad,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said the explosion had failed to cause human casualties, but damaged one of the motorcade’s.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1-2: Suicide bombers targeted NATO troops and foreign civil affairs workers in separate blasts Monday in the western Afghanistan city of Herat, killing at least four people and wounding 26, a police official told CNN. The attacks occurred within minutes of each other just blocks apart in Herat, an area that U.S. military officials have hinted American troops would be withdrawn by July because it has been largely free of violence. The bombers targeted the Ministry of Transport in central Herat, and a compound that houses an Italian Provincial Reconstruction Team -- an outreach unit made up of civilian affairs and aid workers, said police commander Abdul Rauf Ahmadi.

#1: A bomber struck near the Ministry of Transport, where witnesses say there were civilian casualties. It was not immediately clear whether anybody was killed in the blast.

#2: The second attack came minutes later when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the main gate of a compound housing the PRT team, paving the way for gunmen to launch an assault at the compound, Ahmadi said. Afghan and NATO-led forces battled gunmen, who had taken up position inside a building next to the PRT compound, Harif Taib, a government official in Herat, told CNN. Ahmadi said the situation was under police control and the gunfight had ended, though witnesses said gunfire could be heard coming from direction of the compound. The leading Italian news agency, ANSA, reported 15 Italian soldiers are among the wounded in Herat. But none were among the dead, a government official said.

#3: A roadside bomb has killed four police officers in southern Afghanistan, the Afghan government says. The Interior Ministry said in a statement today the officers were on a convoy patrol with NATO forces when their vehicle struck a bomb laid in the road. The blast happened in Nad Ali district of Helmand province, a former Taliban stronghold where US Marines have poured in to try to establish peace and a functioning government.

#4: A bombing Monday at a restaurant in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border wounded 11 people, including four children, authorities said. The blast occurred in the town of Miran Shah in North Waziristan, said Muhammed Khan, a government official.

#5: An International Security Assistance Force helicopter made a precautionary landing in southern Afghanistan today. The landing site has been secured and all personnel are accounted for. There are no casualties as a result of the precautionary landing.


MoD: Lieutenant Oliver Richard Augustin

MoD: Marine Samuel Giles William Alexander MC

DoD: 1st Lt. John M. Runkle

DoD: Staff Sgt. Edward D. Mills Jr.

DoD: Staff Sgt. Ergin V. Osman

DoD: Sgt. Thomas A. Bohall

DoD: Sgt. Louie A. Ramos Velazquez

DoD: Spc. Adam J. Patton

DoD: Pfc. John C. Johnson

DoD: Spc. Adam S. Hamilton

News of the Day for Sunday, May 29, 2011

Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

As security forces converge at the site of a bomb blast outside a liquor store in Abu Ghraib, a second blast kills one soldier and one firefighter. Five soldiers and five firefighters are injured.

Hilla

Two bombs outside the headquarters of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council in al-Nila township severely damage the building and injure two people. (SIIC is the largest Shiite-based political party.)

Baquba

Aswat al-Iraq reports two attacks late Saturday. What appears to have been a sticky bomb kills a civilian; and a grenade attack on a checkpoint injures three police.

Rabi'a, Ninevah Province

Bodies are found of two men, dead of gunshots to the head and chest.

Other News of the Day

NBC's Azriel James Relph reports on the VA's failure to serve veterans with mental health problems. On May 10, "Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the agency was violating veterans’ constitutional rights by denying them guaranteed health care and benefits, citing the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment and its guarantee of freedom from unjustified governmental deprivation of property." Relph details individual stories of veterans who were denied help, and talks with Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, which filed the lawsuit against the VA along with Veterans United for Truth.

Reuters' Rania el Gamal tells of conflict between the "Marsh Arabs" and oil companies over exploitation of their land. Most readers of this blog should know about the tragedy of the marshes in southern Iraq, where an ancient way of life was nearly destroyed when Saddam Hussein drained the marshes. The thirst for water upstream means they still have not been fully restored. -- C Excerpt:

The Imara tribe dwells in what is now the outskirts of the marshes. Miles of wasteland scattered with palm trees, baked mud huts, stagnant water canals and rusty pipelines are all that remain of the ancient wetlands.

"The area here is backward, it needs schools, hospitals, roads, water and electricity," said sheikh Rashash, waving a palm leaf hand fan to cool off the sweltering summer heat. . . .

Many tribesmen are illiterate and have little chance of finding work outside the farms. They want compensation for land used by foreign oil companies, or for companies to employ them.

Brian MacQuarrie of the Boston Globe describes dangers that still face U.S. troops in Iraq even though their participation in combat is officially over and Americans have large forgotten the war. Writes MacQuarrie, "The mission now has transformed into one of keeping peace long enough to orchestrate the massive drawdown of troops and machines accumulated over eight years of fighting, and to prepare an Iraqi security force capable of curbing the sectarian fighting that some fear could plunge the country into civil war. It is a mission that does not result in many casualties — 36 Americans have died since Sept. 1 — but the threat is continuous and real."

Afghanistan Update

An investigation was underway Sunday into allegations that a coalition airstrike in southern Afghanistan killed a dozen children and two women, Afghan and NATO officials said. The incident occurred Saturday in Nawzad district, Helmand province, apparently as an attack was underway against an ISAF convoy. It seems this is a regular feature of our Sunday posts. It wouldn't be complete without one. -- C

Separately the governor of Nuristan on Sunday said that 18 civilians and 20 police were killed by "friendly fire" during US-led air strikes against insurgents in his troubled northeastern province. This incident allegedly occurred on Wednesday.

Suicide bomb attack on a high level meeting in Takhar province kills Gen. Daoud Daoud, police chief of north Afghanistan, a former deputy interior minister. Also killed in the attack were a provincial police chief, two more police, and two German soldiers. The death of Daoud is seen as a significant blow to efforts to develop the Afghan police.

Quote of the Day

No more. Nobody else. I think about my brother every day of my life. Every day is his Memorial Day.

Ryan Tinsley, brother of army medic Logan Tinsley, KIA Dec. 26, 2006, near Baghdad.

War News for Saturday, May 28, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier when a helicopter crashed in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, May 26th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of eight ISAF soldiers from an IED blast(s) in an undisclosed location(s) in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, May 26th. News reports that 2 ied attacks killed eight American soldiers.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, May 27th.

The British MoD is reporting the deaths of two British ISAF marines from an IED blast in the Loy Mandeh area of the Nad-e Ali (North) District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Friday, May 27th. Here's the ISAF release.

The DND/CF is reporting the death of a Canadian ISAF soldier from a non-combat related incident at FOB Zangabad 45 Kilometres southwest of Kandahar Airfield, Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Friday, May 27th. Here's the ISAF release.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, May 28th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, May 28th.

The Georgian MoD is reporting the death of a Georgian ISAF soldier from an IED blast in Helmand province, Afghanistan on an undisclosed date. At this time we are listing this as a new death without an ISAF release.

The MoD of Spain is reporting the death of a Spanish ISAF airman from apparently natural causes/illness at a FOB in Herat, Afghanistan on Thursday, May 26th.


Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:
#1: Anti-explosives unit forces disabled on Saturday morning a bomb placed near the old mosque of Al Mukhaimisa village, northeastern Baaquba.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: TWO Australian soldiers have been wounded after their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device while on patrol in southern Afghanistan.

#2: At least eight people were killed and 12 injured Saturday morning when Pakistani Taliban triggered a remote-controlled blast in the northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan, a media report said. The blast took place at a marketplace in Salarzai area of Bajaur Agency, Geo News reported. Citing local Urdu TV channel ARY, Xinhua reported that the blast took place at about 10.55 a.m. inside a tea shop where some anti-Taliban local tribal leaders were sitting together. It was a planted bomb, witnesses said, adding that seven shops near the blast site were also destroyed.

#3: The Taliban tried to crash the Canadian army’s party Friday by launching an attack on the ceremonial opening of a road in the heart of the perilous Panjwaii district. The speakers weren’t even finished and pieces of the ribbon had just been picked up when a pair of explosions rang out, followed by small-arms fire. Canadian and Afghan troops scrambled to reinforce the defences around the combat outpost where the ceremony took place. The soldiers returned fire, but everything went quiet when two American AH-64 Apache gunships swooped down and began circling the base, which was recently carved out of the hardscrabble farmland and scrub.

#4: ISAF troops killed several insurgents during a patrol in Musa Qala district of southern Helmand province on Friday, ISAF said.


DoD: Chief Warrant Officer Christopher R. Thibodeau

DoD: Staff Sgt. Joseph J. Hamski

DoD: Tech. Sgt. Kristoffer M. Solesbee

DND/CF: Bombardier Karl Manning

Geo/MoD: Junior Sergeant Lavrosi Ivaniadze

: Air Force lieutenant Pedro López MolinaSP/MOD

War News for Wednesday, May 25, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, May 24th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, May 25th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A car bomb in a parked vehicle targeting the convoy of an Iraqi army major general wounded five people in Baghdad's northern district of Qahira, an Interior Ministry source said. The major general escaped unhurt.


Diyala Prv:
#1: An employee of the Oil Derivatives Directorate in Iraq’s Diala Province has been killed by unknown gunmen northeast of its center city of Baaquba, a Diala security source said on Wednesday. “A group of armed men opened fire on an employee in Diala’s Oil Derivates Directorate in Khanaqin township, 155 km to the northeast of Baaquba, killing him on the spot, whilst the attackers escaped to an unknown destination,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Babel Prv:
#1: A US hummer was burnt today by the explosion of bomb directed against American military convoy, security sources said. The source added to Aswat al-Iraq that the US forces detained a nearby person and handed over to the Iraqi police. No other details were given on human casualties.


Kirkuk:
#1: Gunmen in a passing car opened fire on a policeman, wounding him, in central Kirkuk, which is 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb killed a police colonel and wounded two of his bodyguards in a southern part of Kirkuk, police said.

#3: Police found the body of a man with bullet wounds to the head in central Kirkuk late on Tuesday, police said.

#4: The Director of west Kirkuk’s Dibbis township, Lt. Brigadier, Hussein Ni’ama Hawas, has been killed in an explosive charge blast on Wednesday, while on his way for work, along with two of his guards injured, a Kirkuk security source said. “An explosive charge, planted on the roadside close to al-Nida’a Bridge in Kirkuk, blew off on Wednesday morning, killing the Police Director of Dibbis township, 45 km to the west of Kirkuk, while on his way for work, and wounding two of his guards,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Two building workers have been injured in an attack by unknown gunmen in northern Iraq’s city of Mosul on Tuesday, a Ninewa security source said. “Two building workers were injured early today (Tuesday), when a group of unknown armed men opened fire on them in Mosul’s al-Quds district,” the security source added. He said the armed men “broke through a house, where the two men were working, opened fire on them and escaped to an unknown destination.”



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban insurgents ambushed and killed eight Afghan security guards and abducted another two in the Bakwa district of western Farah province on Tuesday, provincial police chief Sayed Mohammad Sharindel said.

#2: Taliban fighters captured a government building on Wednesday in a mountainous region in eastern Afghanistan, seizing control of half of the remote district and leaving at least three police officers dead, officials said. The assault took place in Duab district of Nuristan province, where government forces have been battling insurgents off and on for weeks near the border with Pakistan. The provincial governor, Jamaludin Badar, told The Associated Press that the Taliban overran the district compound using heavy weaponry like mortars and rocket-propelled grenades against the lightly armed Afghan police. No Afghan military or NATO forces patrol Nuristan, where intense fighting continued on Wednesday. Eight Taliban fighters have been killed in the last several days of fighting there, Badar said. He said the Taliban now controlled the western part of Duab district.


DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Clifford E. Beattie

DoD: Pfc. Ramon Mora Jr.

War News for Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from an IED attack in the Sayedabad Kalay area of the Nahr-e Saraj (South) district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Monday, May 23rd. Here's the ISAF release.

The Australian MoD is reporting the death of an Australian ISAF soldier from an IED blast presumably in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan on Monday, May 23rd. Two additional soldiers were wounded in the attack.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: “An explosive charge, stuck to a taxi, blew off close to northern Baghdad’s al-Bakriya district, killing its driver and wounding a civilian that accompanied him,” the security source said.

#2: He said that a booby-trapped car, parked in a garage in northern Baghdad’s Kathimiya district, blew off, wounding 8 persons, including 3 policemen.


Basra:
#1: A woman was slightly wounded and damages hit an American armored vehicle when a bomb exploded in the desert area east of Basrah, a U.S. forces media source announced here today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the bomb was directed against the U.S. convoy, but no human casualties were reported on the American side.


Kirkuk:
#1: A roadside bomb wounded a street cleaner when it went off in southern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Riyadh:
#1: Gunmen shot indiscriminately, killing a woman in al-Riyadh town southwest of Kirkuk, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Three Iraqi soldiers were wounded by a bomb explosion west of Mosul, security sources announced today. The source added to Aswat al-Iraq that the bomb was directed against military patrol. Among the wounded was a lieutenant officer.

#2: Two soldiers were killed by a shooting directed against a checking point west of Mosul, security sources said today. The sources informed Aswat Al-Iraq that the two soldiers were killed by a gunfire equipped with silencers during their post in checking point.

#3: The Commander of the Emergency Battalion of northern Iraq’s Sinjar Police, Lt.
Brigadier, Dhiab Hamid, had escaped an assassination attempt north of Mosul on Monday, a Mosul security source said. “Lt. Brigadier, Dhiab Hamid, the Commander of Sinjar Police’s 2nd Emergency Battalion, was attacked by a group of unknown gunmen on the main road, connecting Sinjar with Mosul, but he was not hurt,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: An Iraqi police officer has been killed and another officer injured, in an armed attack against them in west Iraq’s Anbar Province on Monday, according to an Anbar security source. “Three armed men, using a civilian car, have attacked a police checkpoint in the so-called KM-70 of Qaim township, 260 km to the west of Ramadi, killing a police officer, with a major rank, whilst another officer with a lieutenant rank was injured, along with the injury of one of the attackers, who flew to an unknown destination,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A roadside bomb killed 10 labourers and wounded 28 on Tuesday as they were driving to work to clean streams in southern Afghanistan, officials said. The roadside bomb tore through a truck carrying the workers through restive Kandahar province, said Dr. Qayoum Pakhla, the director of Kandahar Hospital.

#2: Meanwhile, Ahmad Ziad, a deputy chief at the National Directorate for Security, was unharmed in an attempted suicide bombing that targeted his convoy as he was travelling to work on Tuesday morning, Kabul police said. Ziad's bodyguards opened fire on a suspicious sport utility vehicle that was coming at the convoy, wounding the driver and stopping the speeding SUV laden with explosives, the police said. The driver was arrested and hospitalized under guard, pending an investigation.

#3: NATO says that one of its aircraft has crashed in western Afghanistan. The coalition says no one on board the aircraft was hurt. NATO said in a statement Tuesday that soldiers have secured the crash site and are protecting those who were on the aircraft. The coalition says the reason for the crash remains unknown and an investigation is under way.

A French fighter jet crashed in western Afghanistan on Tuesday, although the crew escaped without injury and enemy fire was not to blame, a French army spokesman said. “A Mirage 2000-D crashed 100 kilometres west of Farah,” French army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Eric de Lapresle told AFP. He excluded enemy fire as the cause of the crash, the first of a French plane during the near 10-year conflict in Afghanistan. “The crew are in good health and have been recovered,” the spokesman added.

#4: Four children were killed by a bomb in a playground in northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, said police commander Daad Mohammad Wafa.

#5: Afghan and ISAF troops killed seven insurgents in Kunar province in Afghanistan's volatile east, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. A combined force came under attack by insurgents during a patrol in Kunar's Noor Gul district, it said

#6: Seven militants were killed in a US drone strike on Monday destroyed a vehicle in which they were travelling in North Waziristan. The attack took place near Mir Ali, some 30 kilometres east of Miramshah, the main town of the tribal area where US officials want Pakistan to launch an offensive against networks fighting in Afghanistan. “A US drone fired two missiles which hit a vehicle. At least seven militants have been killed,” one security official in Peshawar said. Another intelligence official in Miramshah said two drones fired four missiles, hitting a van and killing at least seven militants.

#7: In a separate incident yesterday, three (Australian) soldiers suffered gunshot and fragmentation wounds during an engagement with insurgents. They were aero-medically evacuated and remain in a stable condition.


Au/DoD: Sergeant Brett Wood

War News for Monday, May 23, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, May 22nd. The ISAF has a duplicate release for this attack.

The AFP is reporting the deaths of two U.S. soldiers while conducting operations in an undisclosed location in central Iraq on Sunday, May 22nd. Various news reports that the patrol hit a roadside bomb either in the outskirts or in Amiryah the district of Baghdad and two or three additional soldiers were wounded in the attack.

NATO is reporting the deaths of four ISAF soldiers from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, May 23rd.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: And in Baghdad, a car bomb blew up in the eastern Zayouna neighbourhood at around 4:00 am (0100 GMT), destroying 13 shops, including seven alcohol stores, an interior ministry official said. There were no casualties resulting from the attack, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

#2: A road-side bomb wounded six people in the western district of Khadra, an Interior Ministry source said.

#3: Four people were hit in two consecutive explosions to the east of Baghdad, security sources said today. The source informed Aswat al-Iraq that the two bombs were planted on the side of the road east of Baghdad, which led to four civilian casualties, including the personal driver of government spokesman's advisor.


Wadssit Prv:
#1: An American military convoy was hit today by a Katyusha rocket in Wassit province, police sources said. The source added to Aswat al-Iraq that an unknown armed groupt shot the convoy with the rocket 40 km north west Kut. The rocket damaged one of the vehicles. There have been no reports on human casualties.


Kirkuk:
#1: A car bomb struck an Iraqi police convoy Monday in the disputed city of Kirkuk, killing two bystanders and wounding five police officers, an interior ministry official said. The blast Monday targeted a convoy carrying the captain of a local police station, the official said. The captain, Ahmed Abdul-Ghafour, was wounded in the blast, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

A morning car bomb targeting the convoy of a police commander in Al-Rashad, south of Kirkuk city, killed two policemen and wounded 12 other people, an officer said. Major Ahmed al-Barzanji and four other policemen were among the wounded.

#2: On the road to Kirkuk from Tuz Khurmatu further south, a roadside bomb targeting a patrol in the early hours killed a captain and another soldier, the town's police chief, Colonel Ali Hamdani, said. Two more soldiers were wounded.


Mosul:
#1: A mortar round landed on an Iraqi army base, wounding one soldier in eastern Mosul, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi Army patrol killed one civilian and wounded two soldiers in eastern Mosul, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan troops killed four insurgents during a gun battle in the Zherai district of southern Kandahar province, the Defence Ministry said.

#2: A suicide bomber struck a crowded Afghan bazaar on Monday, killing four civilians and wounding another 14 in a remote town in the east of the country. There were no government offices or military patrols in the area where the incident happened in the small town of Najeel Khail in Alishing district of Laghman province, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of the capital Kabul.

#3: Elsewhere in Afghanistan on Monday, the interior ministry said seven insurgents were killed after Afghan and foreign forces repelled an attempted ambush in the highly unstable eastern province of Kunar, which borders Pakistan.

#4: Troops recaptured Pakistan's naval air force headquarters on Monday after a 16-hour battle with Taliban gunmen who had stormed the facility in the most brazen attack since the killing of Osama bin Laden. More than 20 militants assaulted the PNS Mehran base in the city of Karachi late on Sunday, blowing up at least one aircraft and laying siege to a main building in one of the most heavily guarded bases in the unstable, nuclear-armed country. At least 12 military personnel were killed and 14 wounded in the assault that started at 10.30 p.m. on Sunday (1730 GMT), a navy spokesman said.

#5: A Jordanian officer was killed and four soldiers injured Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded as a humanitarian convoy passed by in the Afghan province of Lugar, a spokesman for the Jordanian armed forces said in a statement. The statement, carried by the official Petra news agency, identified the officer killed as First Lieutenant Majed Abu Qudairi. "The four wounded are in good health," the Army spokesman said.

War News for Sunday, May 22, 2011

Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: The bombings began early with a car bomb and four roadside bombs exploding in quick succession near the federal police headquarters in southwest Baghdad, killing two and wounding 15 others, two Interior Ministry officials said.

First a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol. Then a minute later another roadside bomb went off in a commercial street followed by two roadside bombs hidden in a pile of garbage on a highway. Finally, a parked car bomb went off on a road that marks the intersection between Bayaa and the adjoining neighborhood. In total, five people were killed in Bayaa, including 2 policemen, and 15 people were injured, including six policemen, police and hospital officials said. They did not have a breakdown of where the deaths occurred

#2: That was followed by a car bomb that targeted the convoy of an Interior Ministry official in eastern Baghdad, killing one person and wounding five others, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

#3-4: Two roadside bombs struck near a hospital and an outdoor market in Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City, killing two and wounding 12, while an explosion wounded three in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of al-Saydiya, the two officials said.

#3: At about 7 a.m. a car bomb in a parking lot in eastern Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood exploded, injuring five people and damaging several nearby cars.

#4: Minutes later, also in Sadr City, a bomb hidden in a pile of garbage exploded, killing one person and wounding five more.

#5-6: Two more roadside bombs struck an Iraqi police patrol in central Baghdad, killing one and wounding 12, the officials said.

#7-9: At least eight more people were wounded in three separate blasts in Baghdad, the officials said.

#8: Deputy Director of Baghdad's Ammanat (Muncipality) escaped an assassination attempt by a sticky bomb in his car, west of Baghdad, according to security sources. The source informed Aswat al-Iraq that Mohammed Aziz Jabbar escaped the assassination attempt in his parked car, but his brother was hurt and hospitalized.


Taji:
#1: A U.S. convoy on the outskirts of Baghdad, near Taji, was targeted by a car bomb, the officials said. When Iraqi police and soldiers arrived to investigate the blast, a suicide bomber standing blew himself up and killed seven Iraqi security members and wounded 10, the officials said.

“A booby-trapped car blew off against a U.S. Army patrol, close to northern Baghdad’s Taji district, causing an unspecified number of casualties among the American patrol and damaging a number of its vehicles, followed by an attack by a suicide bomber, wearing an explosive belt, after the arrival of a police force to the venue of the blast, killing 7 persons and


Kirkuk:
#1: A guard in north Iraq’s Kirkuk city has been killed and his daughter injured in an attack by unknown gunmen west of the city on Saturday night, a Kirkuk police director said. “A group of unknown gunmen opened silencer-gun fire on Saturday night on Hassan Dawood, a guard in a plant in southwest Kirkuk’s Industrial district, killing him on the spot and wounding his daughter,” Kirkuk Police Director, Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: “A police patrol has found the corpse of an unknown person, south of Kirkuk, with bullet traces on the body,” Lt. Brigadier, Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Gunmen wearing police uniforms and suicide vests stormed a government building in eastern Afghanistan early Sunday, starting a running shootout with Afghan security forces who surrounded the compound, officials said. At least five people were killed in ongoing fighting. In Sunday's incident, four men armed with assault rifles and wearing explosives drove shortly before dawn into a compound that houses the provincial traffic department on the edge of Khost city, said provincial Police Chief Gen. Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai. Security forces stopped the men, who were wearing uniforms of the Afghan Border Police, only after becoming suspicious of the civilian station wagon they drove, he said. Guards opened fire on the attackers, but the men were able to kill a police officer and occupy the upper floors of the building, Ishaqzai said. The attackers shot down on Afghan security forces from their vantage point as a fire raged through the structure. Two of the attackers' suicide vests exploded during the fighting, though it was unclear whether they triggered the bombs or bullets caused them to detonate, Ishaqzai said. Security forces shot a third attacker to death, he said. Explosives found inside the attackers' station wagon were defused. Three police officers, one Afghan soldier and a civilian were killed in the attack, Ishaqzai said. Five police officers and one civilian were wounded. The gunbattle was still going on more than six hours later with the remaining gunman.

#2: Meanwhile, U.S. forces in southern Afghanistan shot a governor's spokesman in the foot Sunday as he arrived to work. Spokesman Zalmai Ayubi leaned on a cane as he spoke with reporters, his left foot bandaged. Ayubi said U.S. forces shot him as he arrived at the gate of the Kandahar governor's office for no reason. In a statement to the AP, NATO forces confirmed the shooting, saying Ayubi had grappled with a guard as he "attempted to physically bypass security" at the office. "In the ensuing altercation, the U.S. soldier's rifle was discharged, hitting the spokesman in the foot," NATO said.

#3: Also Sunday, two women were killed and five other people wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in the southern province of Zabul, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.

#4: Taliban insurgents killed three police and wounded four in an attack on a police outpost in the Obe district of western Herat province, said district police chief Sher Agha.

#5: Afghan troops killed four insurgents during a gun battle in the Zherai district of southern Kandahar province, the Defence Ministry said.

War News for Saturday, May 21, 2011

German forces shoot Afghan protestors


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen equipped with silenced weapons shot dead Col. Nameer Khazaal, an officer working for the local forensics office in Baghdad's southwestern district of Bayaa, an Interior Ministry source said.

#2: Gunmen using silenced weapons shot dead two employees working at the Iraqi intelligence facility in western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded near a house of Saadoun al- Mashaikhi, a mosque imam while he was returning from prayer, wounding him and killing two people, including his son in southern Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Three civilians were injured due to a stick bomb in their car in Baaquba city.


Amarra:
#1: The office director of the Legislature of al-Ahrar (Liberals) Bloc in southern Iraq’s Missan Province has been injured in an attack on his car north of its center city of Amara, a Missan security source said on Friday. “A group of armed men opened machinegun fire on the car of Al-Ahrar MP, Raf’e Abdul-Jabbar’s Missan office director, Mohammed Qassem on Friday, seriously wounding,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that he was driven to a nearby hospital for treatment.


Basra:
#1: A Basra police force has arrested two persons, while trying to plant an explosive charge in Hartha area, north of Basra on Saturday, a security source said. “Two persons, trying to plant an explosive charge on the main highway, connecting Baghdad with Basra, close to Hartha area, 20 km to the north of Basra, have been detained” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Tikrit:
#1: The director of Police Department of Alam District in Tikrit and his driver were injured due to a sticky bomb in their car, police sources in Salah al-Din province said today. Two other persons were also injured due to an explosion in local market mid of Tikrit city.

#2: A civilian was hurt by a sticky bomb planted in his car near Great Tikrit Mosque in the center of the city at the end of Friday prayers, police sources said today.

#3: and another bomb that led to two casualties in the local market of the city.


Hawija:
#1: A roadside bomb wounded two civilians in Hawija, 210 km (130 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol, killed two soldiers and wounded two others in the southwest of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad on Friday, police said.

#2: Gunmen opened fire at the house of an off-duty policeman, wounding him in southern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#3: The corpses of two brothers, killed in Kirkuk, were found inside their house north of the city on Saturday, a Kirkuk police source said. “A force, belonging to Kirkuk’s Azadi Police have found two corpses of two brothers, killed in their house north of the city, according to intelligence information,” the police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said that one of the victims was a policeman and his brother was a salesman.


Mosul:
#1: Two policemen were killed and eight others wounded when two successive roadside bombs went off in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad on Friday, police said. The second bomb exploded when security forces gathered at the scene.

#2: Gunmen opening fire at a police checkpoint killed one policeman in western Mosul late on Friday, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Five insurgents were killed and one wounded when a homemade bomb they were preparing exploded in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, provincial governor Jamaluddin Badr told Reuters. The blast took place inside a house in Paron, the capital of the volatile Nuristan province.

#2: Four soldiers with the Iowa National Guard were injured by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Wednesday. The four were wounded when the vehicle they were in hit an improvised explosive device. There was no information on the extent of their injuries.

#3: The Afghan Defense Ministry says a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a tent filled with medical students eating lunch at a military hospital in Kabul Saturday, killing at least six people and wounding 23. Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zaher Azimi says Saturday's blast occurred on the grounds of the Mohammad Daud Khan military hospital in central Kabul.

#4: At least 16 people were killed in northwest Pakistan after a bomb attack claimed by a militant group hit a truck carrying fuel supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan. It took place near the Torkham border crossing in the Khyber region, the main route for moving supplies to NATO and American forces in Afghanistan. “The tanker was on fire because of a blast late in the night. There was another blast early in the morning in the same tanker and 16 people who gathered near it to collect oil were killed,” a senior local administration official in Khyber said. Police officials said the first blast was caused by a bomb.

#5: In another attack in the same region, a bomb struck 16 NATO fuel trucks late on Friday, setting them on fire. No one was hurt.

#6: Eight suspected militants were killed on Saturday when army gunship helicopters attacked their hideouts in Orakzai region, adjoining Khyber, local officials said.

#7: A US drone strike destroyed a vehicle in Pakistan's Taliban-infested North Waziristan district on the Afghan border Friday, killing four suspected militants, local officials said. The two missiles struck the Tappi area, 10 kilometres (six miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, where US officials want Pakistan to launch an offensive against networks fighting in neighbouring Afghanistan. "A US drone targeting a militants' vehicle fired two missiles killing four militants," a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

War News for Friday, May 20, 2011

Kirkuk Bombs Threaten Iraq's Oil Security

Wildcat strikes spread in Iraq as BP lifts first oil cargo

Troop morale in Afghanistan plummets, report says

Cdn. medics kept busy in Afghanistan

Armed skirmish reported at Tajik-Afghan border in Khatlon

A new test for Taliban and al-Qaeda ties

5 Mehdi Army chiefs escape from Taji prison


Reported security incidents

Qaiyara:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded near an Iraq army patrol, killing four soldiers, in the town of Qaiyara, 290 km (180 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: update Thirty-six people were killed and 20 wounded when the Taliban stormed an Afghan road construction company. The violence in the eastern province of Paktia, which borders Pakistan, started at around 2am on Thursday and raged for several hours. One security guard who survived told said that 'hundreds' of Taliban had swamped the compound, forcing him and two colleagues to hide with guns and a few bullets so they could kill themselves if they were found.

#2: The Taliban bombed a US consulate convoy in Peshawar on Friday, killing one person and wounding 11 others in the first attack on Americans in Pakistan since Osama bin Laden's death. A US embassy spokesman said two US government employees were lightly wounded in the rush-hour attack in the volatile northwestern city, which runs into the tribal belt that Washington has branded a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda. One of two armoured vehicles was damaged by what a bomb disposal official said was 50 kilos of low-grade explosives packed into a car and detonated by remote-control, dismissing initial reports of a suicide bomber on a motorcycle. "Two vehicles of the US consulate were on their way to the consulate when they were attacked," US embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez told AFP. "One vehicle was damaged. There is no death among our personnel and there are no serious injuries," he added. "Only one car was hit. In that car there were US citizen diplomats and a Pakistani driver," he said, adding that two male US government employees inside the car suffered "minor injuries".

#3: A civilian was killed and nine others injured Thursday when a powerful bomb explosion rocked Kandahar city, officials said. Eight civilians were injured Thursday when a powerful bomb explosion rocked Kandahar city, the provincial capital of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. Eye witnesses told Xinhua that the explosive were planted in a motorbike and detonated near the Kabul Bank branch.

#4: One child was killed and four civilians wounded when a bomb hidden in a bag exploded near shops and a shrine in southern Kandahar city, said Zalmay Ayoubi, a spokesman for the Kandahar governor.

#5: At least 60 insurgents were killed by Afghan and foreign forces in a three-day operation in northwestern Faryab province, ISAF said in a statement. The offensive started on May 13 in Faryab's Qiasar district, it said.


FR/MoD: Private 1st Class Cyril Louaisil

DoD: Spc. Brandon M. Kirton

War News for Thursday, May 19, 2011

The French MoD is reporting the death of a French ISAF soldier from an accidental explosion of ammunition in southern Kapisa province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, May 18th. Four additional soldiers were wounded in the incident. Here's the ISAF release.


Questions linger over control of Pakistan airfield

Chechens killed in Quetta were unarmed: witnesses

Afghan prisoner at Guantanamo dies in apparent suicide

British operation in Iraq comes to an end


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi Education Ministry staff was seriously injured in an explosive charge blast west of Baghdad on Wednesday, a security source said. “Abbas Hassan Mar’ie was seriously injured in an explosive charge blast under his car in west Baghdad’s Iskan housing complex, whilst another citizen was also injured,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An Iraqi civilian has been killed and two others were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) that blew up under a car in central Baghdad’s Bab al-Muadham district on Thursday, a security source said. “An IED blew up under a civilian car close to Adilah Khatoun Mosque in central Baghdad’s Bab al-Muadham district on Thursday, killing its driver on the spot,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

A sticky bomb attached to a cleric's car blew up in central Baghdad, killing the cleric and wounding two passers-by, an Interior Ministry source said.

#3: Three civilians have been injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast close to northern Baghdad’s Aqaba bin-Naf’e Square on Thursday, a security source said. “An IED blew off on the roadside, close to the so-called Mission Compound in northern Baghdad’s Aqaba bin-Naf’e Square on Thursday, wounding three civilians,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A parked car bomb targeting the convoy of police Lieutenant-Colonel Abdul Hameed al-Shimari, the emergency response unit commander in Diyala province, killed two civilians and wounded 10 people in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. Shimari escaped injury but three of his guards were among the wounded, the source said.


Basra:
#1: Southern Iraq’s Basra International Airport has come under a Katusha rocket attack on Wednesday, along with Basra’s Shalamja border post. “The Basra International Airport has come under a Katusha rocket attack on Wednesday, causing no losses, whilst the city’s Shalamja border post suffered a 5-Katusha rocket attack, also failing to cause human or material losses,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: Twin bombs that appeared timed to lure policemen out of their fortified headquarters in a northern Iraqi city killed 22 people on Thursday, most of them police officers. Scores were wounded in the double blasts in Kirkuk, and a third explosion 45 minutes later on a road to a city hospital brought the number of injured to at least 60, said provincial health director Siddiq Oman. Kirkuk police Capt. Abdul Salam Zangana said the first explosion, in a central Kirkuk parking lot at about 9 a.m., sent policemen rushing outside their secure headquarters compound to investigate. That's when the second blast hit, Zangana said. The double blasts killed 22 people, most of them policemen, and wounded more than 52, he said. It also heavily damaged the police headquarters, where rescue workers frantically combed through the rubble to find victims. The third bomb set cars and trucks ablaze when it exploded about 550 yards (500 meters) away, targeting a police patrol near a mosque, said Zangana, who oversees security units at the hospital where the dead and wounded were brought. Zangana said eight people were wounded in that blast.


Mosul:
#1: A policeman was injured by a blast aimed at his patrol east of Mosul, security sources at the province said today. The source pointed out to Aswat al-Iraq that the explosion led to material damage in a patrol vehicle.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Three Army soldiers and an officer, with a colonel rank, have been injured in an explosive charge blast against their patrol in western Iraq’s city of Falluja, an Anbar police source said on Wednesday. “An explosive charge, planted on the roadside in Falluja city, 60 km to the west of Ramadi, the center of Anbar Province, blew up against an Army patrol, wounding 4 of its members, among them an officer with a colonel rank, along with causing damage to their vehicle,” the police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Several civilians have been killed in a three-day US-led operation against militants in Afghanistan's northwestern Faryab province, witnesses say. In a Thursday statement, NATO announced that 65 militants were killed during the offensive. However, witnesses have told a Press TV correspondent that several civilians were also among the dead. The operation started on May 13 in Faryab's Qiasar district and lasted for three days, the NATO statement said.

#2: The first four died during a disputed night raid by U.S.-led troops who stormed a house shortly after midnight in the city of Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province, in Afghanistan's northwest.

#3: The last 13 died when a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into a bus that was carrying police academy trainers in the eastern province of Nangarhar, one of the most violent regions of the country. It was the latest in a series of suspected Taliban attacks on Afghan security forces.

#4: Taliban forces have abducted 72 road workers and burned their equipment in southeastern Afghanistan, provincial officials said Thursday. The workers were taken from their camp in the Wazai district of Paktia province, where they were spending the night, said Abdullah Durani, the chief director of public works in the province. The Taliban also set fire to 12 vehicles and road-building equipment, he said.

#5-6: At least one person was killed and four others including three policemen injured on Thursday in two different bomb attacks in Pakistan's northwestern city of Naushehra, local sources said. In the first incident, a passerby was killed while three others including two policemen were injured when a roadside planted bomb exploded near a police van in the city. According to city police officer Imtiaz Khan, the incident occurred at Jahangira Chowk where a police van was on routine patrol and came under attack of a remote controlled bomb device. In another incident, one policeman was injured when some unknown persons threw a hand grenade at a refugees' registration center in the northwestern part of Pakistan.


DoD: Staff Sgt. David D. Self

DoD: Spc. Bradley L. Melton

DoD: Pvt. Lamarol J. Tucker

DoD: Pvt. Cheizray Pressley

War News for Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The DoD is reporting a new death unreported by the military. Sgt. Robert C. Schlote died from a non-combat related medical illness in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. on Saturday, May 14th. He was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Hungarian MoD is reporting the deaths of two Hungarian ISAF soldiers from a vehicular roll-over accident in Baghlan province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, May 17th. Four additional soldiers were wounded in the accident. Here's the ISAF release.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an unspecified insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, May 18th.


Troops face increasing dangers in Iraq

11 killed at violent protests over Afghan deaths

Pakistani troops, NATO helicopters engage in firefight


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Officials say that a bomb in Baghdad has killed an Iraqi man and injured three other people. A Baghdad policeman said the Wednesday morning casualties were the result of a so-called sticky bomb that was hidden on the underside of a car. A hospital official confirmed that the driver of the car was killed and that his two passengers were wounded. A passer-by also was injured.

#2: An Iraqi civilian has been killed and three others injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast north of Baghdad on Tuesday, a security source said. “An explosive charge, planted on the roadside in northern Baghdad’s Waziriya district, had blown up to kill a civilian and wounding three others,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: A roadside bomb blew up and wounded four civilians late on Tuesday in the Doura district of southern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

#4: Sticky bombs attached to two oil tanker trucks went off, killing one driver and wounding the other, late on Tuesday in the Amil district of southwestern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.


Kut:
#1: update A woman and her daughter have been injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast against a U.S. Army patrol in southern Iraq’s Wassit Province on Tuesday, a security source said. “An IED that blew off against an American military patrol in Kut city, the center of Wassit Province, had injured a woman and her daughter, who happened to be close to the venue of the blast,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Riyadh:
#1: Two employees of North Iraq’s Oil Company in Kirkuk have been injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast on Tuesday, a Kirkuk police director said. “An IED blew off under a vehicle of two employees of the North Oil Company in Kirkuk in Riyadh Township, 45 km to the southwest of Kirkuk, seriously wounding both men and causing serious damage to their vehicle,” Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: Police found the body of man with gunshot wounds in the head in northern Kirkuk, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Unknown gunmen killed a civilian working as a driver at the Faculty of Arts east of Mosul city, security sources said here today.

#2: The manager of the police internal affairs department in Mosul escaped an attempt on his life but a police officer was wounded when a roadside bomb blew up late on Tuesday near their vehicle in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Dozens of militants bearing rocket-propelled grenades attacked a key security checkpoint near the Pakistani city of Peshawar early Wednesday, sparking a three-hour clash that killed two police officers and 15 insurgents, police said. The attack on the Sangu Mera checkpoint is more likely tied to the Pakistani military's offensives against militant groups in its tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. Sangu Mera lies just along the border of Khyber tribal region, one of the areas where Taliban and other militants have hideouts and where the Pakistani army has staged multiple operations. The checkpoint is about 6 miles (10 kilometres) away from Peshawar, a strategically important city near Afghanistan. Senior police official Liaquat Ali Khan said as many as 100 militants carrying rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons attacked the security forces overnight. But eventually the insurgents were pushed back.

#2: Also Wednesday, gunmen on a motorbike killed five minority Shiite Muslims in a minibus in what appeared to be a sectarian attack in Pakistan's southwest Baluchistan province, police said. Six people also were wounded in the attack in Quetta, the provincial capital.

#3: Afghan soldiers, backed by NATO-led forces, during cleanup operations killed 16 insurgents in Paktika province 155 km southeast of capital city Kabul over the past two days, spokesman for provincial administration said on Tuesday. "Based on intelligence a unit of joint Afghan and international troops launched a cleanup operation in Mata Khan District Tuesday morning leaving four rebels dead," Mukhlis Afghan told Xinhua. In separate operation a day earlier on Monday the combined forces killed 12 militants in the neighboring Urgun district, he said.


DoD: Spc. Brian D. Riley Jr.

DoD: Sgt. Robert C. Schlote

HU/MoD: Andras Dalnoki

HU/MoD: Orsolya Roth

War News for Tuesday, May 17, 2011

NATO is reporting the deaths of four ISAF soldiers from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, May 16th.


Iraqi Sunni officers increasingly targeted, as Shiite militias fear Baath party return

3 Alaska-based soldiers killed by bomb in Afghanistan


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An officer in Iraq’s Anti-Terrorism Body had been killed in an attack by silencer-guns west of Baghdad on Tuesday, a security source said. “A group of armed men, using silencer-guns, opened fire on the car of Lt. Brigadier, Jassim Hamid Lazim, in Iraq’s Anti-Terrorism Body, in southwest Baghdad’s al-Amil District on Tuesday, killing him on the spot,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kut:
#1: An explosive charge blew off against a U.S. military patrol in Kut city, the center of southern Iraq’s Wassit Province on Tuesday, a Wassit police source said. “An explosive charge blew off against an American military patrol in central Kut on Tuesday, but human and material losses were not known,” the police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said the American forces opened random fire after the blast and imposed a security cordon around the venue of the explosion.


Iskandariya:
#1: Two persons were killed in bomb blast in Fadhila (Chastity) Party Headquarters north of Hilla, security sources said today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that a bomb was put in air cooler exploded in the headquarter of the party in Iskandariyah area, 50 km north of Hilla, which led to the killing of two of the guards.


Hawija:
#1: The Director of Police Administrative Affairs in Hawija township of north Iraq’s Kirkuk Province has escaped an assassination attempt on Monday, a Kirkuk Police Director said. “Lt. Brigadier, Qusay Arif, the Director of Hawija township’s Police Administrative Affairs, 65 km to the southwest of Kirkuk, has escaped an assassination attempt, when an explosive charge blew off under his vehicle southwest of the township on Monday night,” the police director said.


Mosul:
#1: One soldier was killed and a child was wounded following a gunmen attack against a military check point west of Mosul, a security source said today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that unknown gunmen attacked a military check point which led to the killing of a soldier and the wounding of a child who was accidentally close to the location of the attack.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A NATO helicopter attacked a Pakistani army post near the Afghan border on Tuesday, injuring two soldiers in an incident that could further increase tensions following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistani officials said. A Western military official said the incident started before dawn, when a NATO base in Afghanistan received intermittent direct and indirect fire from the Pakistani side of the border. Two helicopters flew into the area to provide support, one of which fired across the border after twice receiving fire from the Pakistani side, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The attack took place Tuesday morning in the Datta Khel area of the North Waziristan tribal region, injuring two soldiers, said Pakistani intelligence officials. The area is a known sanctuary for Taliban and al Qaeda militants and has been targeted repeatedly by covert U.S. drone strikes. Pakistani troops responded to the attack with machine gun fire and deployed two helicopter gunships over the army post, but the NATO helicopter had already left, said the Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.


MoD: ArticleMarine Nigel Dean Mead

DoD: Sgt. Kevin B. Balduf

DoD: Lt. Col. Benjamin J. Palmer

FR/DM: Private 1st Class Loïc Roperh

War News for Monday, May 16, 2011

The British MoD is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in a compound in the Loy Mandeh wadi area of the Nad 'Ali (North) district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Sunday May 15th. Here's the ISAF release.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: One Iraqi security guard was killed and two Norwegians were among four people wounded on Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy in Baghdad, security and medical officials said. The blast occurred at around 8:00 am (0500 GMT) in the eastern neighbourhood of Jadidah, or New Baghdad, an interior ministry official said on condition of anonymity. He said one Iraqi guard died, and the wounded included two Norwegians and two Iraqi private security guards, adding that they were part of a convoy from the water resources ministry. A doctor at Al-Kindi hospital in central Baghdad confirmed five people, including two foreigners, suffered wounds from a bomb blast.

#2: In a separate attack, a traffic policeman was killed by gunmen using silenced weapons in the northern Baghdad neighbourhood of Al-Utayfiyah, the interior ministry official said.

#3: Also on Monday, a roadside bomb targeting Baghdad provincial council member Kamil al-Zaidi blew up as the politician's convoy was on the edge of the Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City, according to the official. Eight people were wounded in the attack, including three policemen, but Zaidi was unharmed. Another roadside bomb targeting a police patrol near Al-Wathiq square in central Baghdad wounded four people, including three policemen.

#4: A roadside bomb wounded two policemen and a civilian in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

#5: A bomb attached to a vehicle killed an Interior Ministry worker late on Sunday in Baghdad's southern Saidiya district, an Interior Ministry source said.

#6: Gunmen on a speeding motorcycle, using silenced weapons, wounded a civilian late on Sunday in the Hurriya district of northwestern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.


Kut:
#1: A strong explosion that shook the city of Kut, the center of southern Iraq’s Wassit Province, on Sunday, was caused by an explosive charge blast targeted against a U.S. Army patrol, a Wassit police source said. “An explosive charge, targeted against an American Army patrol, close to Kut’s Central Garage on Sunday, had caused damage to the main street, fruit and vegetable shops and civilian cars in the area,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. An eyewitness said that one of the U.S. patrol’s cars was damaged due to the explosion, adding that the U.S. and Iraqi police had imposed a cordon around the venue of the blast, preventing media and civilians to get close to it. The eyewitness told Aswat al-Iraq news agency that he saw ambulance cars driving a number of injured persons to al-Zahraa Hospital in Kut, whilst a medical source said that the blast did not cause any human casualties.


Tikrit:
#1: A tax official was killed today and three of his colleagues were injured by a sticky bomb north of Tikrit, security sources at the Joint Coordination Office in Salah al-Din province reported. "The bomb was stuck to a civil car and exploded upon his return to his home, which resulted in his death and the wounding of his colleagues," the sources added to Aswat al-Iraq.


Kirkuk:
#1: Police found the body of a man in his thirties, believed to be a Christian kidnapped several days ago, in northern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, a police source said.


Mosul:
#1: An Interior Ministry bomb squad defused a sticky bomb attached to a car belonging to the judge who heads the criminal court of Nineveh province, in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Gunmen in a speeding car attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in western Mosul on Sunday, killing a soldier and wounding a child, police said.

#3: Gunmen in two cars shot dead the son of a civilian contractor in a town northwest of Mosul on Sunday, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: The deputy chairman of Anbar's Provincial Council said today that, in cooperation with the security forces, an expanded investigation was opened into the dead bodies found yesterday in Amiriyah Quarter, south of Falluja. Sa'doun Al-Sha'lan clarified to Aswat al-Iraq that the investigation will determine the identity of the dead, those who are implicated in the murder, and the fate of all missing people from Anbar. "Initially, we found three bodies. We then found another 18 in an adjacent grave," he added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A base for South Korean construction workers has come under yet another attack in the Afghan town of Charikar in the northern province of Parwan. A rocket-propelled grenade exploded near the base late Sunday, but left no casualties, Xinhua quoted the South Korean Foreign Ministry as saying on Monday.

#2: Four Canadian soldiers were injured when a helicopter "rolled" Monday during a "hard landing" on a river bed in Afghanistan. The Canadian Ch-47 Chinook transport chopper accident occurred during night operations by the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment in the Horn of Panjwaii.

#3: Eleven civilians were killed and wounded in insurgent attack in Kunar province, east of Afghanistan on Monday, according to a statement issued by Afghan Interior Ministry. It said that the enemies of peace and stability, a term usually referred to Afghan Taliban insurgents, fired four rounds of mortar on Wata Pour district, Kunar province Monday morning. Interior Ministry in the statement described it as a coward act of terrorism and condemned it.


DoD: Sgt. Amaru Aguilar

News of the Day for Sunday, May 15, 2011

Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

Three members of one family killed in an armed home invasion. No indication of motive as of now.

Four people are injured by an explosion near the National Theater in Karrada.

VoI reports four separate Katyusha rocket attacks:

* Six people are injured when a rocket falls on a garage in al-Tayaran square.
* Three are injured by a rocket that falls on the highway in Jadririya.
* Four are injured by a rocket that falls near a mosque and a filling station.
* A fourth rocket falls harmlessly into the Tigris.

However, Reuters reports that one person was killed and nine injured when nine rockets fell in the Green Zone. (That's a pretty big event for VoI to miss!)


Xinhua reports on three separate attacks on police by gunmen equipped silenced weapons.

* Gunmen injured a traffic officer in al-Shaab. He returned fire and killed one of the attackers.
* Lieutenant Colonel Mahmoud Nawaf from the Interior Ministry was injured in an attack on his car in Abu Dsheir.
* A intelligence officer was injured in al-Nisour square.

Mosul

Two people are killed and three injured in what appears to be a neighborhood feud.

An off-duty police man is injured by a roadside bomb in Hammam al-Alil township south of the city.

Tuz Township, south of Kirkuk

Six police are injured by a roadside bomb.

Turkey-Kurdistan border region

Turkish government says soldiers killed 12 PKK members who were entering Turkey. Separately, a Turkish soldier is killed by a land mine. The PKK ended a six-month cease fire in February.

Other News of the Day

For you conspiracy theorists out there (and after all, there really are conspiracies, a helicopter, hired by police, landed at the scene shortly after the body of Dr. David Kelly was found and departed after five minutes. The Daily Mail obtained flight logs but "Significantly, the flight log has been heavily redacted, making it impossible to know who was on board or what its exact purpose was. The flight was not mentioned in oral evidence at the Hutton Inquiry, set up by Tony Blair to investigate Dr Kelly’s death." (For those who do not recall, Dr. Kelly was named as the primary source of a report that the Blair government had lied to the public about Iraqi weapons in making the case for war. He was found dead shortly thereafter, and his death ruled a suicide; but many have doubts. Follow the link for details.)

A navy biomedical investigator believes that inhalation of microscopic dust particles may be responsible for unexplained illnesses of many Iraq veterans. The Defense Department (surprise!) denies there is any problem.

PM Nouri al-Maliki issues a threat to Muqtada al-Sadr should the government decide to extend the U.S. troop presence in Iraq an al-Sadr oppose the decision. Al-Sadr responds with a sermon in which he says ""We appeal to all Iraqi people to expel the U.S. troops from Iraq through demonstrations and marches. We will not accept the occupation's troops staying, not even for one day after the end of this year."

Afghanistan Update

A NATO soldier is killed by an IED in southern Afghanistan. No further information as of now.

A police official says NATO forces opened fire on a group of girls age 8 to 15 in Kunar province, killing one and injuring four. NATO says it is investigating.

Leaked documents reveal that NATO forces have made extensive use of white phosphorus weapons in populated areas, a practice forbidden by international conventions.

The Pakistani legislature passes a resolution asking the government to consider ending the transport through Pakistan of supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan.

John Kerry is visiting Afghanistan and Pakistan as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee winds up hearings on the Afghanistan war. A movement is growing in congress to wind down the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. Kerry's position on this question is likely to be influential.