War News for Wednesday, September 05, 2012

3rd ID takes command in south Afghanistan

Hundreds of Afghan soldiers detained, sacked for insurgent links

Voyager 1 set to burst solar system bubble, move to parts unknown

U.S. drone attack kills 5 suspected militants in Yemen

Afghanistan to undertake control of Bagram prison from US

Pakistani intelligence agents deployed in Nuristan province


Reported security incidents
#1: A suicide bomber targeted an Afghan government official at a village funeral near the Pakistan border yesterday, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens more in one of the deadliest attacks of the year. One official said up to 25 people died, including a son of the district governor, after the bomber walked into a crowd of mourners paying their respects to a late tribal elder in the remote Shigi village of Dur Baba district in the eastern province of Nangarhar. District governor Hamisha Gul was the target and was wounded in the blast. His brother was also hurt in the attack, which happened at around 2.30pm (10.00 GMT). Yesterday’s bombing was one of the worst attacks of the year in Afghanistan and comes just weeks after the deadliest day of 2012, when 50 people were killed in a series of attacks.

#2: Up to 15 Taliban insurgents have been killed and 38 others detained in 12 cleanup operations carried out by the Afghan police, army and the NATO-led coalition force within the past 24 hours, the Afghan Interior Ministry said Wednesday morning. "A total of eight other armed Taliban insurgents were wounded during the above raids launched in Kabul, Kunar, Nangarhar, Sari Pul, Jawzjan, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Logar, Paktia, Herat, Farah and Helmand provinces over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates to the media.
 
#3: Seven more militants were killed on Tuesday in parts of Bajaur Agency, near the Afghan border, as security forces kept up their attempts to drive out the fighters from their hideouts. The clashes between security forces and anti-militant tribal fighters on one hand and Afghanistan-based Pakistani militants took place in Batwar Khas, Chachagi, Kambeli, Tendo Dag and Kumbat areas of Salarzai tehsil. Both sides used heavy weapons. Sources in the security forces claimed that seven militants were killed. Two volunteers of an anti-militant tribal group called Lashkar suffered injuries, according to locals. Fresh groups of militants had replaced the tired ones, they said, adding that the stiff resistance being faced by the security forces and Lashkar indicated that militants were digging themselves in for a long fight. Sources said jet fighters and helicopters had been unable to pin down the militants to their lairs in dense forests of Salarzai tehsil.

#4: A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police station in northwest after officers opened fire on him on Wednesday, police said, adding that there were no other casualties. The incident took place outside Jandol police station in the mountainous Lower Dir district, one of the tribal areas bordering Pakistan where Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants have strongholds. "A man was coming towards the police station, when police shouted to stop him he began running and blew himself up when police started firing," senior police official Akhtar Hayat Gandapur told AFP.

#5: Two guards of a private security company were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Andar district of Ghazni province last night, police said Tuesday. A vehicle of private guards escorting a supply convoy of foreign forces struck a landmine in on Kabul-Kandahar highway in Mulano Baba area of Andar district, Muhammad Hussain, security chief of Ghazni province, told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP). He said two guards were killed and their vehicle damaged in the explosion.

#6: The Taliban gunned down a police officer in Ghazni city on Tuesday . The police officer deployed at the Governor's House was killed by the armed opponents in Kala Sabz area in Ghazni city, the Ghazni governor's spokesman Fazl Muhammad Sabaon told the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP).

#7: Meanwhile, a roadside bomb attack left a deputy commander of local police and his bodyguard wounded in northern Kunduz province this morning, police said Tuesday. A roadside bomb exploded near the vehicle of local police in Maidan Pukhta area, limits of Kunduz city, at approximately 7:00 a.m. (local time), injuring deputy provincial commander of local police, Muhammad Wazir, and his bodyguard.

#8: Six Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were killed and 14 more injured in separate incidents in various parts of the country, the Ministry of Defence said Tuesday (September 04). Six Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were killed and 14 more injured in separate incidents in various parts of the country, the Ministry of Defence said Tuesday (September 04). A Ministry of Defence press release available with the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) an ANA soldier was killed and two more sustained injuries in Musa Kala and Grishk districts in Helmand province while two ANA soldiers lost their lives and three more suffered injuries in blasts and attacks of the armed opponents in Kandahar province. The press release said one ANA soldier was killed in Asmar district in Kunar while two were killed in Zabul and Wardag provinces while eight troops suffered injuries.

#9: The press release said a suspected opponent was killed, one held in Zabul province while five IEDs and some explosives were seized in various areas by the ANA soldiers and Afghan National Police personnel.

#10: Meanwhile, two motorcyclists attacked the residence of Samangan Governor Khairullah Anosh, killing one of his guards and injuring another in the Andkhoi district of northern Faryab province on Tuesday. One of the attackers was also injured in retaliatory fire, but he managed to escape with his accomplice, the district chief, Sultan Sanjar, told Pajhwok Afghan News. Police have launched a search for the assailants.

#11: Local authorities in eastern Afghanistan announced Pakistani military forces fired at least 80 missiles in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan during the past two days in the latest wave of cross-border incursion. Kunar provincial governor spokesman Wasifullah Wasifi said at least 3 Afghan civilians were injured following the Pakistani military shelling. Mr. Wasifi further added at least 43 missiles were fired on Sunday while 37 more missiles were fired on Monday in Dangam district of eastern Kunar province.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Jeremie S. Border

DoD: Staff Sgt. Jonathan P. Schmidt