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