War News for Monday, October 31, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, October 30th.


Diplomat says attack killed 9 Americans - The unidentified diplomat told CNN the nine Americans killed included four U.S. troops. Others killed in the attack included two British civilians believed to be civilian contractors, a Kosovo national and a Canadian soldier.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A sticky bomb attached to a lawyer's car went off, killing him and wounding a nearby traffic policeman late on Sunday in Baghdad's northern Adhamiya district, police and hospital sources said


Diyala Prv:
#1: Gunmen using silenced weapons stormed the house of a member of the government-backed Sunni Sahwa militia and held women and children inside the home while they killed the Sahwa member and his brother outside, in the town of Khan Bani Saad, 30 km (20 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Gunmen opened fire at an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing a soldier, and planted a bomb that killed two other soldiers when they responded to the scene, late on Sunday in the eastern outskirts of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, local police said.


Mosul:
#1: Security sources said today that two soldiers were killed by a bomb blast west of Mosul city. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the bomb was directed against a military patrol west of Mosul.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide vehicle bomb struck a checkpoint in a neighborhood housing United Nations and international aid groups' offices in the southern city of Kandahar early Monday, killing four people and severely damaging a U.N. agency's building, Afghan officials said. Gunmen then rushed into the neighborhood and seized control of at least one building, sparking a battle with Afghan and NATO forces, Kandahar police chief Gen. Abdul Razzaq said. The firefight lasted more than two hours before the two insurgents were shot dead, according to a statement from the provincial governor's office. Immediately after the 6:15 a.m. bomb attack, two insurgents rushed into the area and seized control of an animal clinic near the office of the International Relief and Development organization, said provincial police spokesman Ghorzang, who like many Afghans goes by one name. The blast caused extensive damage to the offices of the U.N.'s refugee agency, the UNHCR. Earlier reports said three security guards in the area were killed, but Mohammad Faisal, an official with the Kandahar provincial media office, said three civilians and one policeman were killed. Three civilians and a Nepalese guard were also wounded, said Faisal.

#2: Unidentified armed men kidnapped driver and cleaner of an oil tanker carrying supply for NATO troops in Afghanistan near Mach area of Bolan district on Sunday. According to Levies sources, armed men signalled to stop a NATO oil tanker carrying fuel from Karachi to Quetta. The driver tried to flee but armed men opened fire at the vehicle bursting the tyres of the oil tanker. Levies sources said the armed men took the driver and cleaner to some unidentified location on gunpoint.

#3: Suspected US unmanned aircraft fired six missiles at a vehicle in Pakistan's tribal region near the Afghan border Sunday, killing six alleged militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

#4: A provincial cabinet minister from Pakistan’s main ruling party escaped unhurt on Oct. 31 when Taliban militants opened fire on his vehicle in the country’s troubled northwest‚ officials said. Amjad Khan Afridi‚ minister for housing and physical planning in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province‚ was traveling in his bulletproof car when militants hiding in the Bilitang area of Kohat district opened fire‚ police said. “Militants fired three sniper shots from the nearby hills. One bullet hit the car’s windscreen. The minister is safe‚” Mubarak Zeb‚ police chief in Kohat district‚ said. “The minister was the target and militants were involved in this attack‚” he added.

#5: A Taliban leader was killed during a security operation by the Afghan National Police and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the Nangarhar province, south-east of Kabul, the coalition said in a statement. One suspected insurgent was detained.

#6: Three insurgents were killed during a week-long security operation by the Afghan National Police and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the Nimroz province, south-west of Kabul, the coalition said in a statement. One suspected insurgent was detained.


AU/MoD: Captain Bryce Duffy

AU/MoD: Corporal Ashley Birt

AU/DoD: Lance Corporal Luke Gavin