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