War News for Tuesday, September 13, 2011

NATO-backed local police terrorising Afghans: HRW -- likely the same people who worked for the Taliban and now working for the Karzai government using the same age old tactics they have always used. – meet the new boss he’s the same as the old boss. – whisker

Turkey says may launch ground offensive into northern Iraq at any time

Pentagon to drastically cut spending on Afghan forces


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A sticky bomb attached to a car carrying a government-backed Sahwa militia member killed him when it went off in Baghdad's western Amiriya district, an Interior Ministry source said.


Hilla:
#1: Police found the body of a man who had been shot in the head in the city of Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Police found the body of a man who had been shot in the head and chest in a town near Hilla, police said.


Taji:
#1: A suicide bomber blew himself up near a checkpoint manned by Iraqi army and government-backed Sahwa militia members, killing one civilian and one Sahwa member and wounding nine, including two soldiers, in the town of Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.


Balad:
#1: At least 7 civilians have been seriously injured in an explosive charge blast under their car in Balad township of Salahal-Din Province on Monday night, a security source reported. “An explosive charge blew off under a civilian car on Monday night in al-Saoud area of Balad township, south of Salahal-Din Province, seriously wounding 7 persons,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Tuesday.


Mosul:
#1: Police found the body of a man who had been beheaded in a house in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded one policeman when it went off in eastern Mosul, police said.

#3: A suicide car bomb went off near a police patrol, wounding five policemen and one civilian in western Mosul, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Gunmen killed 22 Shi'a Muslim pilgrims on their way to Syria as they were passing through a predominantly Sunni Iraqi province from the shrine city of Karbala, officials said on Tuesday. The group had all been passengers on a bus passing through Anbar province, long a stronghold of Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, when their vehicle was stopped by gunmen at 9.30pm (18.30 GMT) on Monday. “Gunmen dressed in military and police uniforms set up a fake checkpoint, made the passengers get off the bus, separated the men from the women and children before killing the men and fleeing,” a Karbala official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

#2: A roadside bomb went off near a police patrol, killing two people and wounding four others in a town near the city of Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Police say insurgents are firing rockets at the U.S. Embassy as gunbattles shake downtown Kabul and its diplomatic quarter. Police official Mohammed Zahir says a large group of gunmen are firing from positions in a tall office building that is under construction near the U.S. embassy. Heavy blasts and gunfire were heard Tuesday throughout the Wazir Akbar Khan area, which is home to the American and other embassies.

"Today at one o'clock at Kabul's Abdul Haq roundabout a massive suicide attack on local and foreign intelligence facilities is ongoing," said a spokesman for the insurgent group, Zabiullah Mujahid, in a text message to AFP. A Western military source said NATO's International Security Assistance Force headquarters was one of the targets. "ISAF HQ is under attack at the moment," the source said.

The insurgent group said the ongoing assault began with a suicide attack targeting local and foreign intelligence in the capital. AFP reporters heard a string of loud blasts while police confirmed one explosion and a gunfight close to the heavily-guarded embassy compound. "Today at one o'clock at Kabul's Abdul Haq roundabout a massive suicide attack on local and foreign intelligence facilities is ongoing," said a spokesman for the insurgent group, Zabiullah Mujahid, in a text message to AFP.

#2: Afghan and foreign troops killed 14 insurgents after a patrol came under fire in southern Uruzgan province on Sunday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement. Three insurgents were killed in an initial air strike, with another 11 killed in two subsequent strikes which also destroyed a heavy machine gun, ISAF said.


Casualty Reports:
One bullet from the machine gun fire went straight through the young soldier’s arm. The other became lodged in his pelvic area, miraculously missing bone, organs and major arteries. And so it was that U.S. Army Specialist Cody Chandler survived.


DoD: Pfc. Brett E. Wood

DoD: Staff Sgt. Daniel A. Quintana

DoD: Staff Sgt. Keith F. Rudd