War News for Tuesday, September 18, 2012

NATO curbs operations with Afghanistan forces


Reported security incidents
#1: A suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a mini-bus carrying foreign aviation workers to the airport in the Afghan capital early Tuesday, killing at least nine people in an attack that a militant group said was revenge for an anti-Islam film that ridicules the Prophet Muhammad. The criminal director for the Kabul police department, Mohammad Zahir, said eight men believed to be civilian foreign nationals working for an aviation company at the airport died in the blast and 10 Afghan bystanders were wounded. The nationalities of the eight were not immediately known. The ninth person killed in the attack was believed to be Afghan.

 The International Affairs Ministry says eight South African citizens were killed in a suicide bomb blast in Afghanistan. Spokesman Nelson Kgwete told The Associated Press that the victims are believed to have been employed by a South African aviation company based at Rand Airport in Johannesburg. A suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a mini-bus carrying foreign aviation workers to the airport in Kabul early Tuesday, killing at least nine people in an attack that a militant group said was revenge for an anti-Islam film that ridicules the Prophet Muhammad.

#2: An Afghan soldier fired on a vehicle he believed was driven by NATO soldiers on a shared base in southern Afghanistan, slightly wounding a foreign civilian worker, officials said Monday. It was the latest in a string of insider attacks by local forces on their international allies.

#3: Two persons sustained injuries when a Nato container transporting goods for Afghanistan-based Nato forces was targetted with a roadside bomb here on Monday, official sources said. The sources said that militants had planted an explosive device on the roadside in Shagai in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency to target the vehicles supplying goods to Nato forces.

#4: A soldier of Afghan National Army was killed and 10 more wounded in separate attacks, defence ministry said Monday. A press release issued by defence ministry said an ANA soldier was killed and three wounded after bomb and gun attacks in Kajaki and Sangin districts of Helmand province. In a separate statement, the defence ministry said seven ANA troops were injured in similar attacks in Kunar, Paktia and Wardak provinces. The defence ministry said 15 Taliban were also killed.

Up to 21 Taliban militants have been killed in operations carried out by the Afghan police within the past 24 hours, authorities said Tuesday. "Afghan National Police (ANP) backed by the Afghan army and the NATO-led coalition forces launched seven cleanup operations in Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Wardak, Logar, Paktika and Nimroz provinces, killing 14 armed Taliban militants over the past hours, " the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates.

#5: Meanwhile, a policeman and four Taliban were killed during a clash in Bala Murghab district of Badghis province earlier today, police said Monday. Taliban, however, said they lost one fighter and killed six border police in the gunbattle. Taliban attacked a post of border police in Joy Ganj area of Bala Murghab district at approximately 4:00 a.m. (local time), killing police and wounding three others, a senior border police officer in western Afghanistan told Afghan Islamic Press on condition of anonymity. He said four Taliban were also killed in the gunbattle that last for four hours. Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousaf Ahmadi, however, told AIP that six border police were killed and three police vehicles were destroyed by their fighters after the attack. He said a fighter was also killed and the police post damaged after the attack.

DoD: Lt. Col. Christopher K. Raible

DoD: Sgt. Bradley W. Atwell