War News for Friday, September 30, 2011

Forbes News is reporting the death of a U.S. soldier from an indirect fire/mortar attack in an undisclosed location in northern Iraq on Thursday, September 29th as according to U.S. military officials. We are waiting for military confirmation before adding this to our count.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in Wardak province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, September 28th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of Three ISAF soldiers from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, September 28th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related incident in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, September 28th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related incident in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, September 29th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of Three ISAF soldiers from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, September 29th.


NZSAS Afghanistan - Death of a trooper: Release 1


US-led coalition: Afghan insurgent attacks falling -- International forces in Afghanistan released new data Thursday showing violence trending downward in their favor, only a day after the U.N. reported considerably more clashes and other attacks per month than last year.

Press Freedoms Observatory condemns detention of TV Channel’s reporter

Two soldiers killed in PKK attack in southeast Turkey


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen using silenced weapons opened fire at a car, killing an interior ministry official and wounding his driver in Baghdad's northeastern Palestine Street, an interior ministry source said.

#2: Gunmen on a motorcycle, using silenced weapons, opened fire at an Iraqi police patrol, killing a police major and wounding a policeman in Baghdad's northern Waziriya district, police and hospital sources said.

#3: Gunmen in a speeding car, using silenced weapons, opened fire at an Iraqi army checkpoint, wounding a soldier in Baghdad's northern Waziriya district late on Wednesday, a police source said.

#4: Five civilians have been injured in 2 explosive charges blasts in southeast Baghdad on Friday, a security source reported. “Two explosive charges blew up on Friday morning close to a shop selling construction materials in the compound of southeast Baghdad’s Zaafaraniya district.


Tarmiya:
#1: Two mortar rounds landed at an Iraqi army base, killing a soldier and wounding two others in Tarmiya, 25 km (15 miles) north of Baghdad, an army source said.


Al Riyadh:
#1: “An explosive charge blew up on Thursday night in a car, close to al-Riyadh township, 45 km to the southwest of Kirkuk, wounding all its 5 passengers belonging to one family, including 3 children,” Lt-Brigadier, Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1-2: Five Australian soldiers were Wounded in Action as a result of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts during two separate incidents in Uruzgan Province on 23 and 25 September 2011. On Friday 23 September, three soldiers from Mentoring Task Force – Three (MTF-3) were wounded when their Protected Mobility Vehicle (PMV) struck an IED during a partnered Mentoring Task Force – Three (MTF-3) and Afghan National Army (ANA) resupply mission in the Karmisan Valley.

On Sunday 25 September, two soldiers were wounded as a result of an IED blast while conducting a partnered MTF-3 and ANA foot patrol in the Mirabad Valley.

#3: A US drone Friday killed at least two suspected militants when it fired missiles on a vehicle in South Waziristan area bordering Afghanistan, security officials said. The strike took place at Baghar village of South Waziristan tribal district, two security officials said. "A US drone fired two missiles at a vehicle and at least two militants were killed," a senior security official told.

#4: One person was killed when a bomb disposal unit tried to defuse a bomb planted near a convoy of trucks carrying fuel through the Pakistani town of Chaman in the southwest to NATO forces in Afghanistan, a security official said.

#5: Two policewomen were killed early on Thursday when a bomb hidden in a motorcycle was detonated as a police vehicle drove past in western Herat province, the Interior Ministry said. A hospital official said a civilian was also killed and six others wounded, including a child.

#6: Afghan security forces and foreign troops killed 34 insurgents, wounded four and detained 36 more in 12 operations across 10 provinces, the Interior ministry said in a statement.

#7: A suicide bomber in a car blew himself up beside a convoy of ISAF troops in the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday morning, killing three civilians and wounding nine others, the provincial governor's spokesman said. ISAF declined to say if the servicemember who died after an insurgent attack had been travelling in that convoy, or had been targeted in a different incident.

#8: Afghan troops killed four insurgents during an operation in Kandahar, the defence ministry said on Thursday.

#9: A roadside bomb killed three Afghan soldiers in southern Uruzgan province, the ministry said on Thursday.

#10: Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces killed three insurgents during a clearing operation aimed at disrupting the Taliban's freedom of movement in the northern province of Kunduz on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Franklin N. Watson

DoD: Spc. Garrett A. Fant

DoD: 1st Lt. Ryan K. Iannelli

DoD: Lance Cpl. John R. Wimpey Cagle

NZ/DF: LCPL Leon Smith.

News of the Day for Thursday, September 29, 2011

Whisker is still indisposed, just a quick update today. -- C

Reported Security Incidents

Kirkuk

Suicide car bombing at a bank where police were receiving their pay kills 2, injures up to 60. The dead are 1 policeman and 1 civilian; most of the wounded are police. DPA gives the death toll as 3.

Not clear if this is an early, incomplete version of the above incident or a different one: Twelve people injured in a boob-trapped car explosion near Kirkuk hospital.

Zab Township, southwest of Kirkuk

Iraq army officer and his bodyguard are killed, 3 other soldiers injured in a roadside bombing.

Baghdad

Police officer is killed by a gunman on a motorbike. Also, an employee of the government TV channel dies of wounds suffered in a shooting on Wednesday.

Police officer killed and another injured in an attack on an Interior Ministry vehicle northeast of Baghdad.

Afghanistan Update

ISAF announces 3 troops killed in a bombing in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday; two others dead in two separate incidents. As usual, no details as of yet. AFP also reports two Afghan policewomen and a civilian killed by a roadside bomb on their way to work at Herat airport. TOLO clarifies that one of the separate incidents yesterday was the New Zealand soldier previously reported; the other a non-combat incident.

UN reports violence in Afghanistan up 40% over last year, contradicting claims by U.S. military leaders that violence has declined:

The U.N. report, information for which is compiled by the U.N. mission here and submitted to the Security Council quarterly, said that as of the end of August, there had been an average of 2,108 "security incidents" each month this year, a 39 percent increase compared with the same period in 2010. . . .

A report from the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force in August painted a sharply different situation. "Throughout 2011 ISAF has seen significant security improvements throughout Afghanistan and violence is down in 12 of the past 16 weeks as compared to the same period in 2010," the coalition's report said. There was no comment from coalition spokesmen on the U.N. report.

News of the Day for Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Whisker is otherwise occupied today so I'm filling in. -- C

Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms kill 5 members of a Sahwa militia member's family, and injure 7, in a home invasion in Abu Ghraib. Dead are the man's wife, two sons, a daughter, and another relative. Oddly, however, in what appears to be a description of the same incident, Aswat al-Iraq puts the location in a village near Falluja. This must be the same incident because the casualty toll and other details are identical. There are often conflicting details of these incidents, but this is rather puzzling. -- C

Car bomb near a restaurant in the Shiite neighborhood of Jisr Diyala kills 3.

A police officer is injured and a civilian killed in a drive-by shooting in Daura late Tuesday.

Two explosions in Uteifiya injure 5 people, also late Tuesday.

Car bomb near a liquor store injures 8 people, late Tuesday.

Taza-Khurmatu, near Kirkuk

Two men are killed by a joint U.S.-Iraqi force while trying to plant an explosive. And I'll bet you thought the U.S. was no longer engaged in combat operations. They are, in the Kirkuk area, because of concerns about the unity of Iraqi forces in the area disputed between Arabs and Kurds. -- C

Other News of the Day

At a conference in Turkey, the head of the Iraqi Parliament's energy committee, Adnan Janabi, casts doubt on previously announced targets for petroleum extraction of 12 million BBD. Iraq has scheduled another round of exploration rights auctions for January.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says he thinks there will be an agreement for thousands of U.S. troops to remain in Iraq after the end of this year, as "trainers." I guess we won't be shutting down this blog after all. -- C

Iraq will buy 18 F-16s. First we destroy their air force, then we sell them a new one. Good business plan!

Afghanistan Update

Taliban kill 8 police in an attack in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, and injure 3. Apparently one of their number was a Taliban double agent, who fled with the attackers. AP also reports a New Zealand special forces soldier was killed during a gun battle with suspected insurgents in a compound near Kabul.

AFP also reports a district police chief killed and 3 of his bodyguards are injured by a roadside bomb in Uruzgan.

NATO says joint Afghan and NATO operation destroys $350 million worth of heroin and opium in Helmand province, along with three drug labs. (These prices are always dubious. I expect that's an estimated retail price, not what the drugs would fetch the Afghan wholesalers. -- C)

War News for Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen using silenced weapons killed Iraqi Army Brigadier General Talal Belasim and his wife in their car near a mosque in the Amil district of southwestern Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded three people in the Jamiaa district of western Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.

#3: Gunmen using silenced weapons killed Mohammed Ali, office manager of the Minister of Health, in the Yarmouk district of west-central Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.

The Director of Iraq's Healthy Minister's Office has been assassinated by a group of unknown gunmen in western Baghdad on Monday, a security source reported.

#4: Gunmen in a speeding car opened fire at a police checkpoint, killing a policeman and wounding two others in the Shaab district of northern Baghdad, police said.


Diwaniya:
#1: Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on an imam of a mosque in central Diwaniya, 150 km (95 miles) south of Baghdad, seriously wounding him and killing one of his relatives, a police source said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A roadside bomb killed three people and wounded another in the southwestern outskirts of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: A Kurdish peshmerga soldier was killed and another was wounded in a clash between troops and villagers in a disputed area of Nineveh province northwest of Mosul, which is 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Gunmen killed an off-duty soldier in the eastern outskirts of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Gunmen opened fire at a police checkpoint and wounded a policeman in western Mosul, police said



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide car bomber has attacked a bakery popular with police in southern Afghanistan, killing at least five people and injuring 22, officials say. The attack took close to the police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, the main city in volatile Helmand province. According to witnesses, police were buying bread when attack took place. Two civilians were among the dead.

#2: A Spanish patrol carrying out a reconnaissance mission near the VIGOCHO Observation Post near the town of Ludina in Afghanistan was attacked on Monday morning by a group of insurgents. The patrol, comprised of Spanish military personnel and members of the Afghan Security Force, responded to the hostile fire and the insurgents fled the area. As a result of the exchange of fire, one Spanish soldier suffered a bullet wound to the shoulder but was able to reach the stabilisation unit on his own two feet. He was subsequently air-lifted by helicopter to the ROLE-2 hospital in Bala Murghab, where his bullet wound was operated on.

#3: A would-be bomber and three associates were killed when explosives were accidentally detonated while preparing for a suicide attack in eastern Ghazni province on Monday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

#4: Afghan security forces and coalition troops killed 13 insurgents and detained 33 more in 10 operations across eight provinces over the past 24 hours, the Interior ministry said.

#5: Afghan and foreign troops killed three insurgents in Char Bolak district of northern Balkh province on Monday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

#6: Missiles fired from two suspected U.S. drone aircraft killed three militants near North Waziristan's main town of Miranshah, Pakistani intelligence officials in the region said. There was no independent confirmation of the incident, and militants often dispute official accounts of such attacks.


DoD: Sgt. Tyler N. Holtz

DoD: Spc. Francisco J. Briseno-Alvarez Jr.

War News for Monday, September 26, 2011

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Sgt. Andy C. Morales died of unreported causes in Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, September 22nd.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, September 24th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from separate IED blasts in undisclosed locations in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, September 25th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, September 26th.


Turkey, Iran reportedly plan offensive against Kurdish rebels


Reported security incidents

Thi Qar Prv:
#1: An Iraqi soldier has been killed and another soldier was seriously injured in a joint US-Iraqi security operation in al-Fudheiliya township, 15 km to the east of Nassiriya city, the center of southern Iraq’s Thi-Qar Province on Monday, a security source reported. “An American force, supported by a force of Iraq’s 10th Army Division’s 38th Brigade, had carried out early today (Monday) a joint security operation in the said township, detaining 4 suspected persons, one of them carrying American Nationality, killing an Iraqi soldier and seriously wounding another soldier, in a clash during the detention operation,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Samarra:
#1: The Chairman of the Municipal Council of Samarra City of Salahal-Din Province has escaped an assassination attempt on Sunday night and one of his bodyguards was seriously injured, a Samarra Police Operations source reported on Monday. “An unknown gunman threw a hand-grenade on the motorcade of Sammara Municipal Council’s Chairman, Omar Mohammed Ulewi at the city center, 60 km to the south of Tikrit, the center of Salahal-Din Province on Sunday night, missing ULewi, but seriously wounding one of his bodyguards and setting one of the vehicles on fire,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Irbil Prv:
#1: Turkish warplanes have resumed bombardment of northern Iraq Kurdistan’s border areas on Sunday night and losses were not known, a security source reported on Monday. “Turkish warplanes have renewed their bombardment late Sunday night against border areas in Kurdistan Region,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that the attacks “were concentrated on villages of Saidakan area of Soran township, 120 km to the northwest of Arbil, but losses were not known.


Kirkuk:
#1: “An explosive charge blew up this morning (Monday), aimed at a civilian car close to Qazan village of al-Riyadh township, 45 km to the southwest of Kirkuk, killing 3 civilian and wounding another, along with causing damage to their vehicle,” Lt-Brigadier, Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: In another incident, Qader said that 2 explosive charges blew up on Monday close to Dibbis township, 40 km to the west of Kirkuk against an Iraqi Army’s checkpoint, causing minor material damage for one of the Army’s vehicles.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An Afghan employee killed a U.S. citizen and wounded another at an annex of the American Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, a spokesman said Monday. The Afghan employee was the lone gunman and was killed, according to Gavin Sundwall, a U.S. Embassy spokesman.

Militants attacked a US compound in Kabul that is believed to include a major CIA office for Afghanistan, according to news reports and official sources yesterday night. The Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment but a United States government source acknowledged the building targeted in the attack, considered part of the US embassy compound in Kabul, likely contained CIA offices. The BBC reported gunfire and a blast were heard yesterday evening from the compound. It said a US official confirmed there was an attack on a facility previously known as the Ariana hotel.

#2: The German Foreign Ministry confirmed Sunday evening that a German civilian was killed on Saturday in the west Afghan province of Ghor. The 57-year-old from the state of Baden-Württemberg was shot dead along with an Afghan companion in what was considered a relatively safe region of the country. The man was in a car with three Afghans when they were attacked by two armed men on a motorbike. After a short altercation, the pair opened fire. The other two Afghans in the car were also injured.

#3: Afghan and NATO-led forces during operations have killed seven insurgents and captured 32 in eastern Afghanistan's provinces over the past 24 hours, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Monday. "Ten Afghan and Coalition force conducted operations in RC-East (Regional Command-East) killing seven enemies, the detaining 32 suspected individuals and a weapon cache turned in over the past 24 hours throughout the region," said a statement issued by ISAF' s RC-East here.

#4: It also confirmed that a Coalition drone was crashed in country' s eastern Paktika province in the same period of time. "An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed in the Sar Rowzah District of Paktika Province. The UAV was recovered and there was no enemy activity in the area prior to the crash," it said.

#5: Separately, two insurgents were killed by security forces while trying to lay roadside mines in Deh Yek district, Ghazni province on Sunday, the ministry said

#6: Two Afghan soldiers were injured in an explosion in downtown Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday night, an offical told Xinhua. The rocket attack apprarently targeted the Ariana Hotel, where many Americans used to live, the official said.


DoD: Sgt. Andy C. Morales

DoD: Sgt. Rafael E. Bigai Baez

DoD: Pfc. Carlos A. Aparicio

News of the Day for Sunday, September 25, 2011

Reported Security Incidents

Karbala

A series of four explosions targeting people lined up for ID cards and passports kills 16 people, injures dozens. After the first blast, three more went off as emergency vehicles arrived. Reported casualty tolls vary, but as always, the numbers go up over time. The total number killed is likely to exceed 16 by the time we know the full story. --C Al Jazeera as of 10:00 GMT was reporting a lower casualty total but has more details, including a photograph.

Khalidiya, near Ramadi

An explosion injures a civilian. When police arrive, a second explosion kills 2 police and injures 2 more.

Sinjar Township, Ninevah Province

Two members of the Yezidi sect are abducted. For those who don't know, the Yezidi, or Yazidi, are Kurdish speaking adherents of a distinctive religion. They are highly insular and have sometimes had strained relations with their Muslim neighbors. Sinjar is a Yezidi population center and there have been deadly attacks there in recent years.

Baghdad

Iraqi Director General of Human Rights, Ahmed Ali, is assassinated on his way to work.

Mosul

Unknown attackers throw 3 hand grenades at the branch of the Central Bank of Iraq, injuring two security guards, late on Saturday.

Other News of the Day

The U.S. is considering a military trial for Ali Mussa Daqduq, captured in Iraq in 2007, who has been linked to an incident in which 4 U.S. soldiers were abducted and killed in Karbala. Daqduq is a commander in the Lebanese Hezbollah organization, which is backed by Iran. This situation is convoluted. The Bush Administration had planned to prosecute Daqduq in U.S. civilian court, but opposition from Republicans prevented that. On the other hand, the Obama Administration has pledged not to send additional prisoners to Guantanamo, and so plans to prosecute him on U.S. soil, to which Republicans also object. Under an agreement with Iraq, he must be remanded to Iraq by the end of this year, although presumably if he is serving a sentence in the U.S. that will not happen.

Sinan Salaheddin discusses efforts to revive Iraq's date palm industry. In the 1960s, Iraq was the world's leading producer of dates; but now it has only half the number of trees it once did. Shortages of water, electricity and other infrastructure pose a challenge, however.

Afghanistan Update

A local militia commander and his son are shot dead in Kunduz. (Watch out -- obnoxious pop-up with unlistenable music.)

Pakistan's military has fired hundreds of mortars and rockets into border provinces in neighbouring Afghanistan, killing at least one civilian, destroying homes and forcing scores of villagers to flee, Afghan officials said on Sunday. The ordinance has rained on Kunar province, with smaller numbers of shells falling in Nuristan. Two mosques have also been destroyed.

A spokesman for Hamid Karzai says recent assassinations of prominent Afghans were plotted in Pakistan. At a memorial service, "Sebghatullah Mujadidi, former speaker of the Upper House of Parliament, accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency of being behind the death of Burhanuddin Rabbani, Karzai's special envoy who was tasked with brokering peace with the Taliban." Hoo boy. - C



Police thwart an attempted suicide attack on a government building in Zabul.

War News for Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Italian Defense Ministry is reporting the deaths of three Italian ISAF soldiers from a vehicle accident somewhere in Afghanistan on Friday, September 23rd. News reports the accident was near their base in Haret Afghanistan. Here’s the ISAF release.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, September 23rd.


Erdogan: US to provide drones to Turkey

US soldier jailed for killing Afghan boy

US Centcom chief visits Pakistan amid rift


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen using silenced weapons killed a Foreign Ministry employee in Baghdad's western district of Jamiaa, an Interior Ministry source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: An Iraqi policeman has been killed and three others were injured in an armed attack in Baaquba city, the center of Diala Province on Friday, a security source reported. “A group of unknown gunmen, carrying weapons equipped with silencers, have attacked a police inspection point in central Baaquba on Friday, killing a policeman and wounding three others,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Irbil Prv:
#1: Turkish warplanes have resumed their raids against northern Iraq’s Kurdistan border areas on the villages of Qandil Mountain late Thursday night, causing terror among their inhabitants and material damage to their properties, eyewitnesses said on Friday. “We heard the noise of strong bombardment that forced people awake at midnight, whilst children began to cry and shout,” a citizen of Bukriskan village of Rawanduz township in Arbil Province, called Mohammed Khider told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The Turkish warplanes continued bombarding the area till early Friday, but did not cause human casualties, though they destroyed all the orchards and agricultural fields,” he said.


Al Rashad
#1: At least 5 persons, including 2 soldiers and an Army officer, have been injured in a traffic accident south of the city of Kirkuk on Thursday night, a police source reported on Friday. “Two vehicles, one an Army vehicle and the second a civilian car, have collided in al-Rashad township, 35 km to the southwest of Kirkuk on Thursday night, injuring 2 civilians, 2 soldiers and an Army officer,” the police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.”


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen opened fire on an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing a soldier, in northern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Gunmen shot dead a civilian in western Mosul, police said.

#3: A child was wounded when a bomb went off as he played near his home in northern Mosul, police said.

#4: The body of a woman who had been shot was found on the roof of her house in western Mosul, police said


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Gunmen attacked four houses belonging to former members of a government-backed Sunni militia, killing a man and wounding three other people, on the southwestern outskirts of Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Five people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a lake at Habaniya, 85 km (50 miles) west of Baghdad, a local police source said.

#3: An Iraqi policeman has been killed and three others injured in an armed attack by unknown gunmen on a police checkpoint south of Falluja city of west Iraq’s Anbar Province on Saturday, a security source reported. “A group of unknown gunmen have attacked a police checkpoint on Saturday morning at Amiriyat al-Falluja township in Anbar Province, killing 3 policemen and wounding 3 others, along with causing material damage to the checkpoint,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said that preliminary investigations have shown that the gunmen have used middle-size and light weapons



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A U.S. drone strike in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt on Sept. 23 killed at least six militants including four foreigners and destroyed a compound‚ security officials said. Two missiles fired by the unmanned aircraft hit a house in the village of Khushali Turikhel‚ 40 kilometers east of Miranshah‚ the main town in the lawless North Waziristan tribal district‚ security officials told AFP. “The US drone fired two missiles which hit a house. Two locals and four militants of central Asian origin have been killed‚” a Pakistani security official said. The official based in Peshawar said militants were using the house as a compound‚ which was completely destroyed.

#2: Gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on a passenger vehicle near the city of Quetta in southwestern Baluchistan province, killing two people and wounding three, police said.

#3: An overnight roadside blast killed four suspected militants riding a vehicle in the northwestern Khyber region on the Afghan border, security officials said. Pakistani military has been active against militants in the region, where rival insurgent groups also attack each other.

#4: Pakistani warplanes killed 10 militants and destroyed three hideouts in raids in the northwestern Orakzai region, local government officials said. There is no independent verification of the attacks and casualties, and militants often dispute official accounts.

#5: Seven Afghan civilians were killed and four others sustained injuries as a roadside bomb went off on Friday in Kandahar province, 450 km south of capital city Kabul, police said. "The tragic incident happened in Miwand district at 3 p.m. local time when a civilian vehicle ran over a mine planted by Taliban rebels, as a result seven civilian people including two women were killed and four others sustained injuries," Abdul Razaq, the police chief of Kandahar, told Xinhua.


DoD: Spc. Jakob J. Roelli

DoD: Spc. Robert E. Dyas

DoD: Lance Cpl. Terry C. Wright

IT/DM: Ten. Riccardo Bucci

IT/DM: Caporal Maggiore Scelto Mario Frasca

IT/DM: Caporal Maggiore Massimo Di Legge

War News for Friday, September 23, 2011

US drone kills 11 in south Somalia


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi officials say five people have been killed in a series of blasts in western Baghdad. Police officials say five bombs were planted early Friday near three houses and two parking lots in the mostly Sunni neighborhood of Ghazaliyah. The pre-dawn blasts also wounded 12 people, including three children and two women.

#2: A roadside bomb blew up near an Iraqi army patrol, wounding two soldiers and one civilian, in Palestine Street in northeastern Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: In Diyala, an explosive blasted near a civilian house and wounded him. Security forces arrested a man suspected to have a role in the incident.


Mussayab:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded in a residential area, wounding two people, in central Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, local police said.


Haswa:
#1: A suicide bomber blew up a minibus in front of a restaurant used by Shi'ite pilgrims, killing four people and wounding 17, in the town of Haswa, 50 km (30 miles) south of Baghdad, the Babil province security operations centre said.


Hilla:
#1: Two persons were killed and 15 wounded in an explosion in a Shiite mosque north of Hilla city, security sources said today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that a bombed car exploded this evening near a Shiite mosque, 50 km north Hilla city.


Tikrit:
#1: The bodies of two men in their 30s were found in south Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, the Salahuddin province police operations centre said. The men had been strangled with ropes and bore cuts on their heads.


Baaj:
#1: A cop was killed by gunmen inside his residence, Ninewa police sources said today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the gunmen stormed in the house in Ba'aj area, 130 km west Mosul, and killed him with their machine guns.


Daquq:
#1: A charred car belonging to three Christian men on a hunting trip was found outside the town of Daquq, 200 km (125 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. The hunters' weapons and the remains of their hunting dogs were found in the car but there was no sign of the men, police said


Kirkuk:
#1: Police found the decomposed body of a man in his 30s in northern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, the Kirkuk police operations centre said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: At least four suspected militants were killed and another injured on Friday when a bomb exploded in their vehicle in Pakistan's Khyber tribal region. The blast occurred in the mountainous Tirah valley near the border with Afghanistan. The vehicle was destroyed by the blast, officials told the media.

#2: Suspected militants detonated a remote-controlled bomb in the Ghundi area of Quetta as a paramilitary convoy passed by, damaging a vehicle and wounding two troops, police said on Friday.



Casualty Reports:
Army Sgt. Kenneth E. Harker, 27, who attended Central High School, lost both of his legs when his Humvee struck a roadside bomb in the Sadr City district in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 7, 2008. Harker's left leg needed to be amputated immediately below the knee, and his right leg was removed a year later because it never healed properly.

#2: Gun shots were heard at the burial ceremony of ex-Afghan president Burhanudin Rabbani in a Kabul hilltop where people gathered to bury his coffin on Friday.

"Some mourners hurled stone at the vehicles of officials who attended the burial ceremony and security guards opened fire into the air to control the situation," an eyewitness, Mohammad Karim, told Xinhua.


DoD: Sgt. Timothy D. Sayne

War News for Thursday, 22, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related injury in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, September 21st.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded and wounded two civilians in Baghdad's southeastern Zaafaraniya district, an interior ministry source said.

#2: Gunmen stormed a cell phone shop and killed its owner using silenced weapons in Baghdad's southeastern Zaafaraniya district, an interior ministry source said.

#3: Gunmen stormed a supermarket and killed its owner in the Zaafaraniya district of southeastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A mass grave containing 27 decomposed bodies was found in the al-Daniya area near Balad Ruz, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad, a source in the Diyala police operations centre said.

#2: Three Bangladeshi women were kidnapped in Diala province, while extensive search operation began there, police sources said today. The source did not give Aswat al-Iraq the kidnapping details or where in the province.


Udhaim:
#1: A roadside bomb went off near a police patrol and killed two policemen in Udhaim, 90 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Baaj:
#1: Gunmen stormed the home of a policeman and killed him in Baaj, 375 km (233 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: A sticky bomb attached to a vehicle wounded the driver and his wife in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan police, backed by NATO-led forces, eliminated 11 insurgents in the country's Zabul province, some 340 km south of the capital city Kabul, Interior Ministry said in a statement here on Thursday. "Afghan National Police (ANP) during a joint military operation with Coalition forces killed 11 insurgents including their commander named Mullah Nabi in Nawbahar district of Zabul province Wednesday night," said the statement. Nine other armed insurgents were injured and two were captured by ANP during the operation, it said.

#2: Two people were killed overnight when a group of militants opened fire on Nato supply containers, officials said. The incident took place near Landikotal, a town near the Afghan border in the Khyber tribal region and a site of frequent attacks on Nato supply oil tankers and shipping containers. “A tribal policeman and a driver were killed on the spot while another driver was injured,” Iqbal Khatak, a local government official, told AFP.

#3: A powerful roadside bomb targeting an anti-Taliban militia ripped through a pick-up vehicle in Pakistan's tribal belt on Thursday killing at least five people, government officials said. The blast badly damaged the pick-up in a remote village close to the Afghan border, in the northwestern district of Bajaur, where Pakistani troops have been fighting for years to dislodge Taliban militants. “It was a planted IED (improvised-explosive device) which exploded when the vehicle passed. Five people have been killed and eight others were wounded,” Adalat Khan, a government official in Chamarkand village, told AFP by phone. “Three of those who died are members of an anti-Taliban militia and one is a 10-year-old boy. The fifth one is the driver.”Irshad Shah, another government official, confirmed the casualties although there were fears that the death toll could rise.

#4: In another development, two NATO drones have crashed in eastern Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, ISAF's Regional Command-East confirmed in a separate statement on Thursday morning. "Two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) crashed in the Pul-E-Alam District of Logar Province and the Behsud District of Nangarhar Province because of mechanical problems. Both UAVs were recovered and there was little to no enemy activity in the area prior to the crash," the statement said.

#5: The General Officer Commanding (GOC) Swat was reportedly injured in an attack on his helicopter in the volatile Pak-Afghan border region situated along the Upper Dir district. Major General Javed Iqbal was inspecting the border that has frequently come under attack from Pakistani militants who operate from sanctuaries in the Kunar and Nuristan provinces of Afghanistan. Reporters, however, suggested that the senior military officer, who has been supervising all military activities in Swat and bordering districts, was injured in the leg. He was said to have been shifted to Rawalpindi in the same helicopter that came under attack. Another senior security official in Swat said two bullets hit the helicopter but that it landed safely. A third security official told AFP that a bullet hit the general’s right thigh and he was taken to a military hospital in Rawalpindi.

#6: Three Afghan troops were killed and eight wounded in offensives in Ghazni, Kapisa and Wardak provinces, the Defence Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

#7: One civilian was killed and four others wounded in a bombing in eastern Khost province on Wednesday, police said.

#8: Two children were killed and two others injured when a bomb was detonated in Pul-e-Alam district, eastern Logar province, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Estevan Altamirano

DoD: Spc. Ryan J. Cook

War News for Wednesday, September 21, 2011

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, September 21st.


U.S. assembling secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, officials say

Kurdish rebels attack police academy in Turkey

Iraq Rumaila Output Resumes; Fire Out - Officials

Assassination Deals Blow to Peace Process in Afghanistan

Key Afghan leader Rabbani killed in Kabul bombing

Troops Amputations Up Sharply In Afghan War -- The number of U.S. troops who had amputations jumped from 86 in 2009, to 187 in 2010, and 147 so far this year. All but about a dozen of those were in Afghanistan and the rest Iraq.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: In Baghdad, Mustafa Galib, a police colonel, was killed when a sticky bomb attached to his car went off in the western district of Ameriyah, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Baaquba's Police Commander and three of his body guards were hit in an assassination attempt by bomb directed against his convoy, security sources said here today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the commander was gravely wounded.

In Diyala, five soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb struck an Iraqi army patrol near a joint U.S. and Iraqi military base, some 80 km north of the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, a source from Diyala's operations command told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

#2: In a separate incident, a roadside bomb ripped through the village of Hwira, some 30 km southwest of Baquba, injuring three civilians, the source said.

#3: Also in the province, a man and his son were wounded by gunmen who broke into their house in the city of Maqdadiyah, some 40 km northeast of Baquba, the source added.


Balad:
#1: Three civilians were hurt in bomb blast directed against Iranian pilgrims in Balad city, south of Salah al-Din province, security sources said here today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that two consecutive bomb blasts resulted in the casualties, but none of the Iranian pilgrims was hurt. The two bombs were planted in a garbage box near a restaurant on the international route between Baghdad and Samara', the source added.


Mosul:
#1: A police colonel was killed by unknown armed group north of Mosul, security sources said here today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the armed group opened fire and killed him immediately at the entrance of his house.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Insurgents dressed in military uniforms launched a coordinated attack on a government compound in the western city of Ramadi on Tuesday, but the assault was partly foiled by local police, who had taken over security of the compound from the Iraqi army four months ago. Two police officers, one civilian and a leader of the Sons of Iraq, a Sunni counterinsurgency coalition, were killed by twin suicide bombs, said Brig. Mohammed Rashid, the police commander in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province. Fifteen policemen were injured in an ensuing firefight with five gunmen who breached the perimeter of the compound after the explosions. Police shot and killed the gunmen. They also fatally shot a third would-be suicide bomber before he could trigger his device.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide bomber posing as a Taliban peace envoy assassinated a former Afghan president who for the past year headed a government council trying to negotiate a political settlement with the insurgents. Tuesday’s attack, in Burhanuddin Rabbani’s Kabul home by a militant who detonated explosives hidden in his turban, dealt a blow to efforts at ending a decade of war. NATO said in a statement that two suicide bombers were involved in the attack on Rabbani, both of them men who had feigned a desire to reconcile with the government. It was unclear if a second bomber was able to detonate his explosives. Afghan officials, however, insisted there was only one attacker. Four of Rabbani’s bodyguards also died and a key presidential adviser was wounded in the bombing, they said.

#2: At least 11 police officers were killed in a terrorist attack in the Afghan Province of Ghazni on Wednesday night, a local police chief said. The police officers were participating in an operation against a Taliban militant attack, he said. Militants first opened fire and triggered an improvised explosive device as the policemen entered a building. All police officers were killed. Nearby buildings were also destroyed.

Meanwhile, in the Waghaz district of eastern Ghazni province, nine Afghan policemen were killed Tuesday evening while they were trying to defuse a roadside bomb, said Gen. Zirawer Zahid, provincial police chief.

#3: Afghan police, backed by army and NATO-led forces, have killed 20 insurgents and detained 22 in different parts of the country over the past 24 hours, Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.


MoD: Marine David Fairbrother

War News for Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Royal Marine from 42 Commando killed in Afghanistan


A future for drones: Automated killing


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Three officers were killed when gunmen opened fire on a police patrol in a drive-by shooting in north-eastern Baghdad, Iraqi officials said today. A spokesman said the assailants used guns fitted with silencers in the attack in the mostly Shiite Shaab neighbourhood.


Northern Iraq:
#1: Two Turkish military airplanes raid Kurdistan borders today. The bombarding caused fires in neighboring forests and highlands.
The two airplanes carried on raiding for 45 minutes, a media source said, adding that the targeted regions are situated in the Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi triangle and are not inhabited.


Mosul:
#1: An explosive charge blew up in an office of Iraq’s Asia-Cell Telecommunications Company in Mosul city, wounding one of its employees, a Ninewa security source reported on Monday.

#2: Ninewa's deputy police commander nearly escaped death from an assassination attempt, two of his body guards wounded, police sources said here today. The source told Aswat al-iraq that the attempt was by bomb implanted on the route of his convoy, east of Mosul city.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An Australian soldier has been seriously wounded in a joint operation with Afghan soldiers which destroyed a large narcotics laboratory. The soldier is now in a medical facility in a stable condition, while a second soldier was also wounded but was able to complete the mission. The Australian Defence Department says the raid in Helmand Province uncovered enough ingredients to make more than $150 million worth of drugs. An Afghan Special Operations Task Group member and interpreter were also wounded and a number of insurgents were killed.

#2: Taliban gunmen stormed a Pakistani checkpoint in the country's lawless tribal belt on Tuesday, killing one soldier and sparking clashes in which up to 20 militants died, officials said. Five soldiers and five civilians were also wounded after the militants attacked the Dabori post manned by paramilitary troops in the tribal district of Orakzai, the officials said. "At least 20 militants have been killed in the pre-dawn clash," a military official said by telephone.

Taliban militants attacked a security checkpost in the northwestern Orakzai tribal region, killing one paramilitary soldier and wounding five, local officials said. In a retaliatory attack, eight militants were killed and 13 wounded.

#3: A policeman was killed and another sustained injuries as a roadside bomb struck their van in Kunduz province, 250 km north of capital city Kabul on Tuesday, police said. "The bomb planted by insurgents on a road in Chardara district went off this morning killing a local police and injuring another," district police chief Ghulam Maihudin told Xinhua.

#4: In the previous attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of police department in Aqcha district of Jauzjan province 390 km north of capital city Kabul Monday evening killing four people including a police and injured nine others including a police and eight civilians.


DoD: Sgt. Garrick L. Eppinger Jr.

DoD: Spc. Chazray C. Clark

War News for Monday, September 19, 2011

MNF-Iraq (OND) is reporting the death of a U.S. soldier from a non-combat related incident somewhere in northern Iraq on Sunday, September 18th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, September 18th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, September 17th.

NATO is reporting the death of another ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, September 18th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, September 18th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, September 19th.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Three prisoners have been burnt to death and 30 others were seriously injured in a fire that broke out in a Baghdad prison on Monday, a security source reported.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Three policemen have been injured in an explosive charge blast against their patrol in Garma township of west Iraq’s Anbar Province on Monday, a security source reported. “An explosive charge blew up against an emergency patrol in Garma township of west Iraq’s Anbar Province on Monday, wounding 3 of its elements and causing damage to their vehicle,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: At least eight people were killed, including six policemen, after a Taliban suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into the home of a senior police official in Pakistan's commercial hub Karachi on Monday. The six policemen were guarding the home of Karachi's Senior Superintendent of Police Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam, who survived the attack, said police official Naeem Shaikh, adding that a woman and her son were also killed in the blast in which police said 300 kgs (136 lbs) of explosives were used.

#2: New Zealand troops from the provincial reconstruction team were doing a routine patrol in three light armoured vehicles (LAVs) when they were attacked shortly after midnight (8am NZT). Mr Key described the attack as "two-pronged'', with a roadside bomb followed by rocket-propelled grenade fire. None of the soldiers were injured, although one vehicle was damaged when it hit a bank as they retreated.

#3: At least six children were killed when a rocket exploded in northern Kunduz province, a provincial official and the Afghan interior ministry said.

#4: Afghan and coalition security forces killed a local Taliban commander and six other insurgents during an operation in eastern Nangarhar province on Saturday, ISAF said.

#5: A coalition air strike killed a local Haqqani network commander and three other insurgents in eastern Paktia province on Saturday, ISAF said

#6: Unknown armed men gunned down a security officer in Kunduz province Sunday evening, police said on Monday. "Unidentified armed men opened fire on Gul Mohammad, a police officer with counter-terrorism department in Khan Abad district, on Sunday evening and killing him on the spot," Sufi Habibullah, the police chief of Khan Abad district told Xinhua.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Michael W. Hosey

News of the Day for Sunday, September 18, 2011

Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

Sticky bomb kills a driver and injures his brother late Saturday. No identification of the victims is given.

Mosul

Three brothers, ages 3 through 12, are killed by a bomb they found while playing. Although the report describes it only as a "strange" object, one suspects this may be a left-over U.S. cluster bomb or other munition. Perhaps more information will emerge. C

Kirkuk

One police officer killed, 2 injured by assailants in the central city.

Other News of the Day

In case you never thought you'd see the day, U.S. forces are busy shutting down Camp Victory. WaPo's Annie Gowen reports that the population is down from 46,000 to 24,000 (yep, it was a decent sized city) and the fast food franchises that made is seem like an American town are shutting down. "Brig. Gen. Bradley Becker is a deputy commanding general for support for the Army's 25th Infantry Division, which will be the last division headquarters left in Iraq by October. He is overseeing the closure from his office on the base, tracking the details on a dry-erase board on which the rapidly waning days are ticked off. The military has gone from 505 bases at the height of its troop strength in Iraq, in 2008, to 47, and Camp Victory is slated to close even if the Obama administration wins backing for a plan to keep a few thousand U.S. troops in the country beyond the end of the year."

Four suspects in the massacre of 22 Shiite pilgrims in Anbar are freed for lack of evidence. Meanwhile PM al-Maliki tries to argue that this was not a sectarian crime. (Ahlul Bayt is an avowedly sectarian Shiite agency, but this story seems pretty straight up. C)

In case you had forgotten the Iran-Iraq war (you remember, the one in which the U.S. supported Saddam Hussein, and Donald Rumsfeld presented him with a gold-handled cane?) Skeletons of 3 Iraqi commercial seamen are found in a vessel sunk by the Iranian air force in 1988.

Circus opens in Baghdad for first time since the war, but without the big cats which so far haven't made it through customs. Says one customer, "Car bombs and weapons find their way easily to Iraq, but bringing circus animals is a more difficult task here." The $12 ticket is steep for largely impoverished Iraqis, but the show is taken as a sign of better days.

Sadrists rally in Baghdad and numerous other cities to protest corruption and lack of basic services.

Afghanistan Update

Two NATO troops die, one in an explosion in southern Afghanistan today, the other in a non-combat incident Saturday. No further information at this time.

According to a TOLO news story based on anonymous sources, The U.S. is investigating the possibility of involvement by Pakistan's Directorate for Interservices Intelligence (ISI) in the attack in downtown Kabul that targeted U.S. interests on Tuesday. The attack has been blamed on the Haqqani Network which is based in Pakistan.

Taliban attack checkpoints in Pakistan on the Afghan border in the Khyber agency, resulting in 15 deaths on either side. The targets were members of tribal militias.

AFP discusses the public relations savvy shown by the Haqqani attack in Kabul on Tuesday. "Scott Stewart of intelligence analysts Stratfor said that the assault's planners would have known the type of weapons used - assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades - would not seriously damage the US embassy. Because of that, we believe that this attack was intended really to send a message, to be more symbolic in nature," he said.

A British soldier who lost his right arm in Afghanistan is being fitted with an advanced mechanical arm which he will control directly with his brain. Not science fiction.

War News for Saturday, September 17, 2011

The DoD is reporting a new death unreported by the military. Sgt. Chester G. Stoda died from a non-combat related incident in an unreported place on Friday, September 2nd. He was supporting OEF.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Friday, September 15th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related incident in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, September 17th.


Photo Essay: Marines fight on in south Afghanistan

Chemical arms found North of Iraq


Reported security incidents

Jbela:
#1: A car bomb exploded, wounding three people, in the town of Jbela, 65 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, local police said.

A Babel media official reported that the explosion from a car bome north of Hilla city reached to 8 injuries, pointing out that the explosion was near the convoy of the governor who was visiting the area to mediate a tribal conflict. Murad al-Bakri told Aswat al-Iraq that Jbala area explosion, 50 km northeast of Hilla, was within range of the governor's convoy by 20 meters.

#2: To that, North of Jabla, unknown armed men opened fire late at night on the bodyguard of the head of the Judicial Commission in Babel Province Council Ahlam Rashed Hamza as the later prevented them from entering the house and caused him serious wounds.


Mosul:
#1: Two soldiers and a policeman have been injured in a clash between a group of Iraqi Army soldiers and the guards of north Iraq Ninewa Governor, Athil al-Nujeify, a Ninewa security source reported on Friday.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car shot and killed a police lieutenant-colonel in front of his home in Garma, 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Baghdad, local police said.

#2: Two suspected militants and an Iraqi army officer were killed, and three soldiers and a policeman were wounded, during an army raid on a militant hideout near the town of Haditha, 190 km (120 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Haditha police said. Police said one suspect detonated a suicide belt and another was killed by soldiers, while a third was arrested in the raid in an area on the road connecting Haditha and the town of Baiji.

#3: Police forces found two bodies for two policemen one from Fallouja and the second from Ain Al Tamer in Karbala’ province near the location of passengers buss kidnapping in Al Qather Valley, South of Al Nakhib region southwest Ramadi. Gunshot wounds were found on the chest and head of the two bodies, a source told Alsumarianews.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan commandos killed 15 militants in a raid that lasted five hours in the northeast part of the country, a district official said Saturday. The commandos landed Friday night near two villages in Barg-i-Matal district, according to district chief Mavlavi Muhammad Ismail. "Our security forces killed 15 militants and wounded 18 others, among these 18 wounded we have captured two Taliban," the chief said.

A total of 18 insurgents were killed when warplanes of NATO-led forces pounded Taliban hideouts in Nuristan province, some 180 km east of the capital city of Kabul, provincial police Chief Zahid Nuristani said on Saturday. "Based on intelligence reports indicating insurgents' activities, international forces carried out an airstrike in Logal area of Bargi Matal district overnight, leaving 18 armed insurgents dead," Nuristani told Xinhua.

#2: Nine civilians including five children have been killed by a roadside mine as they herded cattle in northwest Afghanistan, police said Saturday. The incident took place in Faryab province, which borders Turkmenistan, late Friday and again highlights the dangers civilians face in the ten-year war in Afghanistan.

#3: Two security officials were injured in an explosion that took place in the Khyber tribal region on Saturday, DawnNews reported. The blast that targeted a security forces convoy took place in the agency’s Landi Kotal bazaar. Khyber is on the main Nato land supply route through Pakistan into Afghanistan.

#4: A small coalition surveillance drone crashed in northern Takhar province after developing technical problems, ISAF said in a statement. The drone carried no weapons or sensitive intelligence data, it said.

#5: Afghan and coalition troops killed three insurgents in an operation in southern Kandahar province, ISAF said in a statement.

#6: Two election candidates were among more than 20 people kidnapped across Afghanistan, officials said. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said a candidate was kidnapped in eastern Laghman province, and the Taliban claimed responsibility. Another candidate has been missing for the past three days in western Herat province, along with three campaign workers, the candidate's family said. Eight IEC officials and 10 campaign workers were kidnapped in northwestern Badghis province.


MoD: Lance Corporal Jonathan James McKinlay

DoD: Sgt. Rodolfo Rodriguez Jr.

DoD: Sgt. Chester G. Stoda

DoD: Sgt. Mycal L. Prince

DoD: Cpl. Michael J. Dutcher

War News for Friday, September 16, 2011

Soldier, 21, killed during training exercise for Afghanistan

US threatens Pakistan with sanctions over Iran gas pipeline deal

Azerbaijani crashed plane's initial version announced - The remains of crew members of the Azerbaijani aircraft, owned by Silk Way Company and crashed in Afghanistan, were not found. They are considered as missing


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Iraqi security forces found two bodies with bullet wounds in Baghdad's southern Doura district late on Thursday, an interior ministry source said. The source said the deceased were Iranians.

#2: Gunmen using silenced weapons opened fire at a police patrol, killing two policemen and wounding two others in Baghdad's southern Doura district late on Thursday, an interior ministry source said.

#3: An Iraqi civilian has been killed in an explosive charge blast under his car in a west Baghdad district on Thursday, a security source reported. “An explosive charge blew off under a civilian car in al-Bakriya area of west Baghdad’s Ghazaliya district, killing its driver,”


Mosul:
#1: Two roadside bombs targeting a police patrol exploded in quick succession and wounded nine policemen in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad late on Thursday, a police source in Nineveh province said.

#2: A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol wounded one soldier in northern Mosul late on Thursday, a police source in Nineveh province said.

#3: The body of a man with bullet wounds was found in western Mosul late on Thursday, a police source in Nineveh province said



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a funeral in Pakistan's northwest climbed to 40 on Friday, police said. No one has claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack on the funeral of a pro-government tribesman in Lower Dir district near the Afghan border, where Taleban militants have carried out numerous attacks in recent years. More people succumbed to their wounds overnight, raising the death toll to 40, with 68 wounded, police official Saleem Marwat told Reuters.

#2: Five policemen were killed when insurgents in Qarabagh district of eastern Ghazni province attacked their vehicle on Thursday, provincial police chief Delawar Zahid said.

#3: Insurgents in western Farah province burnt 15 trucks carrying supplies for coalition troops and killed the driver of one of them on Wednesday, Abdul Raoof Ahmadi, a police spokesman said. Five people were wounded.

#4: A road-side bomb struck a convoy of security forces in the Khyber region on the Afghan border, killing one soldier and wounding two, a senior government official said. The convoy was on a routine patrol.

War News for Thursday, September 15, 2011

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from a small arms fire/gunshot wounds attack in the village of Haji Khodin Nazar, in the Nahr-e Saraj (South) district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, September 14th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier during an offensive engagement in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, September 13th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, September 14th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier during an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, September 14th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier during an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, September 15th.


As Iraq pullback nears, US still at war in south

Panetta: US will pursue Pakistan-based militants


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A sticky bomb attached to the car of a traffic police colonel exploded and killed him on late on Wednesday in the Iraqi capital's eastern New Baghdad district, an interior ministry source said.

#2: A bomb attached to a car parked inside a garage wounded three people when it went off in Baghdad's western Ghazaliya district, an Interior Ministry source said.


Iskandariya:
#1: Gunmen killed four people near Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, a police source said.


Kirkuk:
#1: One civilian was seriously wounded when he escaped from gunmen trying to kidnap him in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, a local police source said.


Mosul:
#1: A roadside bomb went off near a police patrol and wounded one policeman in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a local police source said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A bomb attached to a vehicle killed the driver, a man named Saddam Hussein, in central Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, a local police source said.

#2: The Chairman of southwestern Iraq’s Shiite Karbala Province, Mohammed Hamead al-Moussawi, has escaped an assassination attempt close to al-Nukheib township in Anbar Province on Thursday, according to a member of his Council.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan security forces and foreign troops killed eight insurgents in Nawzad district of southern Helmand province during an operation, the provincial governor said in a statement.

#2: Also a civilian was killed in a roadside mine in the same district on Wednesday, the statement added.

#3: An ISAF air strike killed a Taliban commander in Maidan Wardak province, west of Kabul, on Tuesday, the alliance said. The commander, identified by ISAF as Hamdullah, was planning attacks in Kabul and surrounding provinces to disrupt Saturday's parliamentary elections, it said.

#4: Afghan police fired into the air to disperse thousands of angry anti-American protesters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, witnesses and police said. One person was killed and at least five wounded, police said.

#5: An Afghan civilian was killed after ignoring several warnings from NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops to stop approaching a security perimeter in southeastern Paktika province on Tuesday, ISAF said.

#6: At least six people were killed and 16 others were injured when a suicide bomber hit a funeral in Pakistan's northwest district of Lower Dir on Thursday afternoon, local Urdu TV channel Duniya reported.


DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Danial R. Adams

War News for Wednesdayy, September 14, 2011

Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Two Iraqi policemen have been killed and two others injured in an attack by unknown gunmen northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, a security source reported. “A group of unknown gunmen have opened fire on a local police patrol in northeast Baghdad’s Qahira (Cairo) district on Wednesday, killing 2 policemen and wounding 2 others.


Al Hazma:
#1: At least 15 people were killed and 36 others wounded when a car bomb exploded by a restaurant in the southern Iraqi town of al-Hamza, police sources said. The first incident occurred outside the Ehsan tourist restaurant, a popular rest-stop by a main highway for people travelling through al-Hamza, located just south of Hilla, 60 miles south of Baghdad.

At least 10 policemen have been victims of a booby-trapped car blast in Shomaly township of west Iraq’s Babel Province on Wednesday, a Babel police source reported.


Irbil Prv:
#1: A Kurdish citizen has been injured by Iranian artillery shelling, that resumed, on border villages of northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Region in Arbil Province on Tuesday, a source reported on Tuesday. “The Iranian artillery has resumed shelling border areas of Kurdistan Region, especially Choman township of Arbil Province, on Tuesday afternoon, wounding one civilian and causing huge damage for his house,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Attackers threw hand grenades at police patrols, wounding three civilians and a policeman, in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Attackers threw a hand grenade at a police patrol, wounding two civilians in western Mosul, police said.

#3: Attackers threw a hand grenade at a police patrol and wounded four people, including three children, in western Mosul, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Elsewhere, two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 10 others wounded when a bomb attached to a military bus exploded at an army base in Habaniya, around 50 miles west of Baghdad. An army source reporting the bombing in Habaniya said: "The soldiers finished their academic training and a bus took them to have breakfast at the restaurant in the base. When the bus reached the restaurant it exploded."Army sources had initially said 15 soldiers had been killed and 20 others wounded, but said later that the toll was less. "The first report we received said it was a bomb attached to a bus transporting soldiers. There were around 40 soldiers on board the coach. They said 15 killed, 20 wounded," an army source at the operations centre in Anbar province said. "We received other reports after this with a higher toll. But when we checked with the Habaniya military hospital, they said we only received two dead and 10 wounded," the source said.

#2: Iraqi soldiers raided a house, killing a man and arresting three others from the same family, in a town near Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: update A brazen Taliban assault on the Afghan capital was quelled on Wednesday after raging for 19 hours in a hail of rockets, grenades and suicide blasts that left 14 dead and six foreign troops wounded. The standoff ended when troops finally killed the two last insurgents who had held out overnight in a high-rise building under construction just a few hundred metres from the heavily guarded US embassy. Cummings said that six foreign soldiers were also injured in the attacks -- three US troops who were defending ISAF's base from attacks and the others in the operation to clear the construction site of insurgents.

#2: Suspected Taliban gunmen ambushed a security vehicle on Wednesday, killing three intelligence officials in Pakistan's north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, police said. One official was injured in the attack in the Janikhel area of Bannu district, district police chief Sajjad Khan said, DPA reported.

#3: Two people were killed and eight others injured Tuesday when a car bomb went off in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, the provincial administration said on Wednesday. "A unit of police were conducting a routine search mission along a road in Ghartala area of Musa Qala district in Helmand province on Tuesday morning but a car bomb went off near checkpoint. As a result, a policeman and a civilian were killed," the provincial administration said in a statement on Wednesday. Eight more civilians, including three women, were injured in the blast, the statement said.