War News for Tuesday, July 05, 2011

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier after he went missing from a checkpoint in the Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province on Monday, July 4th. Various news reports that he was shot dead after being captured by the Taliban during a gun battle with British forces when he went for an afternoon swim.

The Australian DoD is reporting the death of an Australian ISAF soldier from small arms fire in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, July 4th. A second soldier was wounded in a separate, but related incident. Here's the ISAF release


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi officials say a late night rocket attack on Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone has killed four Iraqis and wounded 10. A police officer says militants fired a Katyusha rocket late Monday night as Americans were celebrating Fourth of July at the U.S. Embassy, located in the Green Zone. The officer says the rocket hit a residential complex for laborers working at a hotel and sparked a fire. A doctor at a nearby hospital confirmed the casualties.

#2: A sticky bomb exploded near an alcohol shop, wounding a civilian, in the capital's eastern New Baghdad district, police said.

#3: Three policemen were killed and 14 others were wounded in a bombing targeting a police patrol in Al Mansour District.

#4: A civilian was killed when a bomb stuck to his car exploded in Abu Dshir District.

#5: Four civilians were wounded as well in a suicide bombing inside a parking lot in Bab Al Moazzam region, central Baghdad.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car, using silenced weapons, shot dead Kurdish politician Saleh Shaker in front of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party headquarters in the town of Saadiya, northeast of Baghdad, police said.


Mussayab:
#1: Gunmen shot dead a policeman near his house late on Monday in the town of Mussayab, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Jurf al Sakhar:
#1: A bomb planted inside a water pump at a farm belonging to a government-backed Sunni Sahwa militia member wounded him when it exploded late on Monday in Jurf al-Sakhar, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Kut:
#1: A military base, used by the Multinational Forces in southern Iraq’s city of Kut, has come under a 3 Katusha rocket attack on Monday night, but losses were not known, a security source reported. “A group of unknown armed men launched an attack by 3 Katusha rockets against the Delta military base, used by the Multinational Forces, 7 km to the west of Kut, the center of Wassit Province, on Monday night,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Iskandariya:
#1: A group of armed men opened fire on an element of Iraq’s Anti-Crime Police Force in west Iraq’s Babel Province, killing him on the spot, a Babel police source reported on Monday. “A group of unknown armed men opened fire on an element of the Anti-Crime Police Force in Iskandaria city, 50 km to the north of Hilla city, killing him instantly,” the police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Hilla:
#1: Gunmen stopped a civilian car and killed the driver in northern Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: In Baghdad, an Iraqi soldier was killed and eight others were wounded including three officers and four awakening council members in a car bomb explosion in Abu Ghraib District.


Taji:
#1: Two explosions at a municipal government building in the Iraqi town of Taji on Tuesday killed at least 27 people and wounded 50 others, officials said. A car bomb and another explosive detonated in a crowded parking lot of the government building in Taji, about 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, security sources told Reuters. ‘It was a double explosion. The first was caused by a car bomb. We have no idea what the second was, whether a suicide bomber or a roadside bomb,’ said Raad Al Tamimi, the head of the Taji municipality. Deputy Health Minister Khamis Al Saad said the blasts killed 27 people and wounded 50. An interior ministry source put the initial toll at 35 dead and 28 wounded.


Rashad:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car killed a man near his house in the town of Rashad, near Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Hawsa:
#1: Two roadside bombs planted in front of a policeman's house blew up late on Monday in Haswa, 50 km (30 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. The first caused no casualties but the second exploded when police arrived at the scene to investigate, killing the home's owner and wounding two other policemen, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen shot and seriously wounded a traffic police colonel in front of his house in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A bomb exploded at an army checkpoint in eastern Mosul, wounding two soldiers and a child, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb went off and wounded five Iraqi soldiers in eastern Mosul, police said.

#4: A roadside bomb blew up and wounded an Iraqi soldier west of Mosul, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A parked car bomb targeting an Anbar province police patrol blew up, killing two policemen and wounding four others in central Saqlawiya, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A suicide bomber was shot dead by a policeman at a government counter-terrorism office but the bomber's explosive vest blew up, wounding another policeman, in central Haditha, 190 km (120 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Backed by helicopter gunships, the Pakistani military launched a new operation in a strategic tribal area that juts into Afghanistan and has become an important militant sanctuary, officials said Tuesday. A military operation in Kurram Agency. "A military operation in Kurram Agency has been launched to clear the area of terrorists involved in all kinds of terrorist activities, including kidnapping and killing of locals, suicide attacks and blocking the road connecting Lower with upper Kurram," said Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. The military has used helicopters to clear three areas of Kurram, but has not received much resistance or suffered any casualties, said Javed Ullah, one of the top government officials in Kurram. "Today is the third day of this operation, which was launched on Sunday," said Ullah.

#2: The deadlier attack occurred in the Turbat area of Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province. A roadside bomb struck a security convoy, killing five troops and wounding five others, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to media on the record.

#3: Earlier in the day, a roadside bomb hit an army vehicle in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, killing two soldiers and wounding roughly a dozen others, said Pakistan intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.


DoD: Capt. Matthew G. Nielson

AU/DoD: Sergeant Todd Langley