War News for Monday, September 30, 2013

Car bombs kill 54 in Shi'ite districts of Baghdad

12 car bombs explode across Baghdad during rush hour; 33 killed

Qaeda Plot Leak Has Undermined U.S. Intelligence


Reported security incidents
#1 Afghan police say Taliban insurgents killed two officers and three civilians in an attack on a checkpoint in the western part of the country. Police Lt. Sher Agha Alokozai says four insurgents were also killed in the gunbattle early Monday in Herat province's Obey district.

#2 A US drone strike targeting a militant compound on Monday killed three militants in Pakistan's troubled tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said. The attack took place in the Boya area of the North Waziristan region, of which Miranshah is the main town.

#3: update: The death toll from a deadly car bomb that struck the city on Sunday rose to 42, a local hospital said Monday. The Lady Reading Hospital said 107 people were brought to the hospital for treatment with multiple injuries.

#4: Afghan police have killed 25 Taliban fighters in Nawzad district of the southern Helmand province 555 km south of Kabul during operations which lasted 17 hours, a local official said Monday. "The operations which launched Sunday evening in Nawzad district and concluded after 17 hours Monday afternoon, had left 25 Taliban rebels dead," a police official Ghulam Sakhi Ghafori told Xinhua.

#5: Ten militants were killed earlier on Monday in an airstrike in the country's eastern province of Ghazni, an army source said. "On an intelligence tip, the warplanes of the NATO-led coalition forces pounded a militant hideout in Koh-Band area of Muqur district, killing 10 militants at wee hours of Monday," an army spokesman in the region Nazifullah Sultani told Xinhua.

News of the Day for Sunday, September 29, 2013

Taliban capture a police district HQ in a remote region of Badakhshan province. Efforts are said to be underway to retake the building. Interior Ministry spokesman says police evacuated, rather than resist, to avoid civilian casualties.

Interior Ministry says 14 Taliban killed in various joint operations with coalition forces around the country. As usual, they report zero government, ISAF or civilian casualties.

Meanwhile, south of the border, remote controlled car bomb explodes in a market in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 33. Peshawar is the gateway to the tribal region where Taliban and al Qaeda militants operate freely. There has been considerable violence there recently.

Also in Pakistan, U.S. drone strike kills 3 suspected militants in North Waziristan.

International Monitoring and Evaluation Committee warns donors may cut aid to Afghanistan over corruption.

Drago Kos, chairman of the Monitoring and Evaluation Committe (MEC) quoted by Reuters said, “The biggest problem in this country is impunity. People don’t see the bad guys are being sanctioned, people do not trust the government.” While speaking at the release of group’s six-month report, Drago Kos said, “There’s no reaction from the police or attorney general’s office.”

Oxfam says Afghanistan must do a much better job of protecting women police. "These recruits have signed up to serve their country, in a country where their service is not always accepted. For in Afghanistan, a country where many women are not allowed to work, do not know their basic rights, and where men and women are separated in public, the people who’s job it is to uphold the law and protect the population are critical."

Afghan Senators accuse local officials of falsifying security reports.

Several Afghan Senators on Sunday expressed concerns over growing insecurity across the country and accused the government of ignoring the security threats. They pointed out that the local security officials in the provinces submit wrong reports about the security situation in their area to the central security organizations. As a result, Kabul does not get to know about the reality and proper measures are not taken.

The Senators said that with every passing day the security situation is deteriorating in several provinces across the country. They blamed the Defense and Interior Ministries for their inability to take any stringent measures in this regard. Due to their failure, the Taliban has succeeded in taking control of several districts across the country.

 No kidding.

War News for Saturday, September 28, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: Shafiqullah Nang, who is spokesman for the eastern province of Ghazni, said three civilians died Saturday when their minivan was struck by a roadside bomb as they were driving from Dayak district to Ghazni city. He says that another eight people were wounded, including two women and two children.

#2: In a second explosion, Fared Ayal, a spokesman for the police chief of southern Uruzgan province, said two men died when their car ran over a bomb on Saturday.

#3: At least three security personnel were martyred and two injured in firing by terrorists at FC patrolling team near a check post in Proom area of Panjgur on Saturday morning. The security forces chased the terrorists and killed five of them in exchange of fire.

#4: Unidentified Saturday gunmen fired at a vehicle of paramilitary soldiers in the earthquake-hit Balochistan province and killed three of them, officials said. Two more soldiers of the Frontier Corps were injured in the attack in Panjgur district, a spokesman said.

#5: Up to six army personnel were killed and injured in IED blast in eastern Logar province, the statement said without providing details.

#6: Two Taliban insurgents were killed and two police sustained injuries as conflict erupted in Marja District of the southern Helmand Province early Friday, a local official said. A group of Taliban rebels attacked a police checkpoint in Marja District early today morning and police returned fire killing two rebels on the spot, forcing others to flee," spokesman for Helmand's governor, Omar Zawak told Xinhua.

#7: At least seven suspected Taliban militants were killed following a NATO airstrike in central Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan. According to local government officials, the airstrike was carried out late Friday evening in Jalriz district.

#8: According to local authorities in eastern Logar province of Afghanistan, unknown gunmen shot dead at least three people including two teachers and a potential provincial council candidate in this province. Provincial governor spokesman, Din Mohammad Darwish confirming the report said the incident took place on Friday evening in Mohammad Agha district.

DoD: Staff Sgt. Thomas A. Baysore, Jr.

War News for Friday, September 27, 2013

Canada lost Afghan war, says author


Reported security incidents
#1: A helicopter carrying relief goods to earthquake stricken Awaran was attacked in Mashkay Tehsil. According to security sources, small arms were used to fire at the helicopter which did not receive any damage.

#2: Unknown armed men attacked Nato container in Hayatabad area of Peshawar on Friday, injuring driver. According to details, the Pakistan-bound container was coming from Afghanistan through Torkham border when unknown gunmen opened firing on container.

#3: At least 19 people including two women were killed and dozens injured in a blast on a bus carrying Secretariat employees at Charsadda Road in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province before Friday prayers, Geo News reported.

#4: A heavy explosion rocked southern Helmand province of Afghanistan late Thursday evening. The incident took place in Lashkargah, the central city of Helmand province, According to local residents and eyewitnesses in the area, the incident took place after a vehicle laden with explosives was detonated ny a suspected suicide bomber. There are no reports regarding the casualties as a result of the incident. The main target of the suicide bomber was not clear.

War News for Thursday, September 26, 2013

An International Security Assistance Force service member died when an individual wearing an Afghan National Security Force uniform shot at ISAF service members in eastern Afghanistan today.


Spanish forces leave Afghanistan after eight-year military mission


Reported security incidents
#1: Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Saeed Aleem and Major General Samrez Salak escaped assassination as terrorists group attempted to destroyed their helicopter in remote area of quake-hit Balochistan, officials said on Thursday. The incident occurred near Mashkai, town of quake-hit Awaran district of Balochistan when militants fire two rockets on chairman NDMA who was flying with senior army official to witness damages in the area. 

#2: Sixteen Taliban militants were killed in a series of joint operations carried out by the Afghan forces and the NATO-led coalition troops since early Wednesday, said the country's Interior Ministry on Thursday morning. Up to 14 militants were wounded and four arrested during the raids launched in Herat, Kunar, Nangarhar, Kunduz, Wardak and provinces, it noted.

#3: According to local authorities in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan, Taliban militants have kidnapped at leat four Afghan national army (ANA) soldiers were kidnapped in this province. The officials further added that the incident took place in Khanabad district late Wednesday.

War News for Wednesday, September 25, 2013

The DoD is reporting the deaths of two Sailors previously unreported by the military. Lt. Cmdr. Landon L. Jones and Chief Warrant Officer Jonathon S. Gibson died in a helicopter crash in the Red Sea on Sunday, September 22nd. They were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Afghan troops blunt Taliban offensive but at high price


Reported security incidents
#1: Militants attacked an irrigation dam under construction in northwest Pakistan killing three workers and kidnapping at least two others, officials said on Wednesday. Around a dozen gunmen attacked the Ghallanai dam site in Mohmand tribal district overnight.

#2: Eleven Taliban militants were killed and 23 others detained in separate operations within the last 24 hours, in the latest raids as part of an increased campaign against insurgents in the country, the Afghan Interior Ministry said Wednesday morning. “Afghan National Police (ANP) supported by the army conducted several joint cleanup operations in Kunduz, Balkh, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Paktika, Paktiya, Herat, Helmand and Nimroz provinces. As a result 11 armed Taliban were killed and 23 others were arrested, ” the ministry said in a statement.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Liam J. Nevins

DoD: Staff Sgt. Timothy R. McGill

DoD: Spc. Joshua J. Strickland

DoD: Lt. Cmdr. Landon L. Jones

DoD: Chief Warrant Officer Jonathon S. Gibson

War News for Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: At least two people were killed Tuesday when mortar shells fired from Afghanistan fell into the Ghulam Khan Tehsil region of North Waziristan tribal agency. Sources told DawnNews that a total of six mortal shells were fired from Afghanistan and fell into the Bangi Dar area near the Afghan border.

#2: A child was killed and another wounded, when an allegedly Taliban planted roadside mine struck them in eastern province of Nangarhar province, an eyewitness said Tuesday. The incident took place in Majbor Abad area, central part of the capital, where an eyewitness, Habibullah told Wakht News Agency that two children were standing nearby waiting for the bus, near a provincial official’s house.

#3: Nearly 50 militants were killed in police operations in different Afghan provinces in the last 24 hours, said the Interior Ministry Tuesday morning. "Afghan National Police (ANP) conducted several cleanup operations with the cooperation of army, intelligence agency and the NATO-led coalition forces, killing 49 armed Taliban, wounding eight and arresting 11 other armed militants," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates. The raids were carried out in Helmand, Farah, Herat, Logar, Uruzgan, Zabul, Kandahar, Balkh, Badakhshan and Kunduz provinces, in noted.

#4: Afghan security forces foiled twin suicide attacks in capital Kabul on Tuesday morning, after being traced by Afghan national security forces. Officials in Kabul security commandment confirming the report said a suicide bomber was shot dead and another bomber were arrested in capital Kabul.

War News for Monday, September 23, 2013

The Romanian MoD is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from a roadside bombing in an unspecified location in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, September 22nd. News reports that they stepped on a mine. Here is the ISAF release.

The US/DoD is reporting the death of Spc. James T. Wickliffchacin who died at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, September 20th. He was wounded from an IED blast in Pul-E-Alam, Logar province, Afghanistan on Monday, August 12th.

Blasts kill 78 at Pakistan church

Military moves into Nairobi mall after gunmen kill at least 69; most hostages freed.

70 voter registration centers closed in S. Afghanistan due to security problems


Reported security incidents
#1: An Afghan provincial official says gunmen have assassinated a district intelligence chief as he was riding his motorcycle to work. Police chief Ghulam Mohayuddin says the attack took place on Monday morning in northern Afghanistan, near Kunduz city, the capital of the province with the same name. He says two gunmen ambushed and shot to death Abdul Hussian, the district's chief of intelligence services, who was on his way to the Chardara district.

#2: At least six people were killed in a US drone strike on a militant compound in a northwestern Pakistani tribal area yesterday, officials said. The attack took place in Shawal , about 55 kilometres west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, along the Afghan border.

#3: A bomb targeting police killed at least five policemen and wounded three others in the restive Balochistan province on Monday. The attack was staged on Saranan Road in Pishin district, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.

#4: Afghan police, backed by the national army and the NATO-led forces, have eliminated nearly four dozen Taliban militants across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Monday. "In past 24 hours, Afghan National Police backed by the national army and the NATO-led coalition forces have conducted series of operations in Kunar, Kapisa, Zabul, Uruzgan, Maidan Wardak, Logar, Paktika and Herat provinces, which left 46 armed Taliban dead," the statement contended.


ROM/MoD: Sergeant 1st Class Adrian Postelnicu

ROM/MoD:  Warrant Officer IIIrd Class Vasile Claudiu Popa

DoD: Sgt. William D. Brown III

DoD: Spc. James T. Wickliffchacin

News of the Day for Sunday, September 22, 2013

Three NATO troops are killed on an Afghan army base in Gardez by a man wearing the uniform of the "Afghan National security forces," according to a NATO statement. Gardez, Paktia province, is the site of continued fighting. All NATO forces in the area are U.S.

The Afghan National Directorate of Security claims it has foiled a plot to murder MP Ustad Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf. He is an Islamist who is running for president. The plotters were Taliban, according to NDS.

Pakistani officials say a rocket fired from Afghanistan killed 1 person and injured another in North Waziristan.

Taliban second in command Mullah Baradar is released from detention in Pakistan. The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the move as a step toward peace negotiations. However, some Afghan politicians oppose the move.

Fighting in Nangarhar is said to kill 4 insurgents. No word about government casualties (as usual).

DoD identifies Staff Sgt. Timothy Raymond McGill, of Ramsey, New Jersey, a member of the Rhode Island National Guard, as killed in action on Saturday.

And meanwhile, back in Iraq: Triple bomb attack on a funeral in Sadr City kills at least 65; hundreds injured. Four police killed, 16 injured in bomb attack on a checkpoint south of Mosul. Four residences are blown up in southern Mosul injuring 7. Two young men killed by silenced weapons in eastern Baghdad, 2 unidentified bodies found in northern Baghdad. Suicide attack on police HQ in Baiji kills 6 police. Let us all pause to thank George W. Bush for bringing the light of democracy and civic order to the long-suffering people of Iraq.

War News for Saturday, September 21, 2013

U.S. kills unarmed civilians in AF-PAK region in droves


Reported security incidents
#1: At least eight civilians have been reportedly wounded in a bomb blast that hit a bazaar in Charbolak district of the northern Balkh province in Afghanistan. Spokesman for provincial government, Farhad Munir said that the explosive device was planted on a motorbike and went off in the bazaar of Charbolak district.

#2: A Taliban-designated district chief has been killed along with three associates in the eastern province of Kunar, an official said on Saturday. Juma Khan, the Taliban’s head for Ghaziabad district, died in an overnight drone strike in the mountainous area called Aigal, the provincial police chief said.

#3: An explosion has been reported in northern Balkh province of Afghanistan. The incident took place early Saturday morning in Chahar Bolok district after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives. Local residents and eyewitnesses in the area saying at least 13 people have been killed or injured following the blast.

#4: An explosion was reported in capital Kabul late Friday night. The blast reportedly took place in Shah Shahid area of capital Kabul after a magnetic bomb went off. According to reports the explosive device was planted in a police Ranger vehicle. There are no reports regarding the casualties as a result of the incident.

War News for Friday, September 20, 2013

US wars in Afghanistan, Iraq to cost $6 trillion

Qaeda Yemen attacks kill 40 police, troops: army

Suicide car bombings kill 40 army soldiers in southeast Yemen

Nepal: US Air force plane lands, supplies for Afghanistan or Tibet?


Reported security incidents
#1: THREE Australian special forces soldiers have been injured in Afghanistan during an operation resulting in the deaths of a number of insurgents, including a senior commander. Defence today released details of the operation in Oruzgan province last week, when Australian soldiers joined Afghan National Security Forces to fend off a heavy, prolonged insurgent attack. “At the time the entire force element was receiving heavy small arms fire, it was a situation that could have easily escalated,” the Australian unit's commanding officer said in the statement.

#2: At least five security men were injured when a blast occurred near their convoy while passing through Sibi on Friday, Geo News reported. According to police, a bomb possibly an improvised explosive device (IED) blasted near a security forces’ convoy in Sibi that wounded five security personnel.

#3: At least ten people, including a child and a woman, were injured on Thursday in a hand grenade attack on the Balochistan Constabulary Line (BCL) in the Sariab area of the provincial capital. According to the police, armed men on a motorcycle hurled a hand grenade on the BCL and fled. The FC and the police rushed to the spot soon after the incident and cordoned off the area. While talking to the media, Sariab SP Bashir Brahvi confirmed the incident and said ten people were injured in the attack.

War News for Thursday, September 19, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a non-combat related injury somewhere in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, September 19th.


Reported security incidents
#1: Taliban fighters have attacked police in northern Afghanistan, government officials said on Thursday, though they gave different accounts of the severity of the attack. The insurgents ambushed a police convoy during an operation to clear an area in Badakhshan province on Wednesday, said Dawlat Mohammad, administrative chief of the district. Mohammad said 10 policemen were killed and 16 were captured.

#2: National Directorate of Security (NDS) on Thursday announced, a suicide bomber was arrested in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan before the bomber manage to carry out suicide attack in this province.

#3: According to local authorities in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan, at least 10 Afghan police officers were killed or injured following clashes among the police forces. The incident reportedly took place in Khanshin district following verbal clashes among the police officers, leaving at least 3 service members dead and 7 others injured.

War News for Wednesday, September 18, 2013

High rate of spinal injuries among troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan

Afghanistan commitment to human rights waning -U.N.

Clashes in capital Kabul as security forces hunt suicide bombers


Reported security incidents
#1: Taliban assassins riding motorbikes have gunned down a senior election official in northern Afghanistan, raising fears the presidential vote due in April will trigger a surge in violence. Amanullah Aman, the head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in Kunduz province, was killed by two gunmen outside his home in Kunduz city as he left for work on Wednesday.

#2: At least five Pakistani citizens were killed Wednesday when Afghan border security forces opened fire in an area near the Pak-Afghan border in Balochistan, security officials said. According to Levies officials, who wished not to be named since they were not authorised to speak to the media, Afghan forces opened indiscriminate gunfire in the Pak-Afghan border area of Qamar Din, around 350 kilometres from Zhob city. The sources said at least five people were killed and up to 20 others injured in the incident.

#3: At least two militants were killed as security forces repulsed an attack on a check post in Dattakhel Tehsil of North Waziistan tribal region on Wednesday, the military said. One soldier was also wounded in the attack, security sources said.

#4: Three policemen were killed and seven police officers wounded Wednesday in a shooting incident in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, said the authorities. "Following an argument inside the Khanshin district police station, a firing took place at around 11:00 a.m. local time. As a result three officers were killed and seven others wounded," the district governor Anwar Khan told Xinhua.

#5: Fifty-five Taliban militants were killed and 37 wounded in separate joint military operations since early Tuesday, said the Afghan Interior Ministry Wednesday morning. "Afghan National Police, army, National Directorate for Security (NDS) and the coalition forces conducted several joint clean up operations in surrounding areas of Balkh, Badakhshan, Kunar, Nangarhar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Logar, Paktiya, Helmand, Kapisa and Herat provinces, killing 55 armed Taliban and injuring 37 others over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement presenting daily operational updates.

#6: According to local authorities in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, at least six Taliban militants were killed following a US drone strike in this province. Provincial security chief Gen. Abdul Habib Syed Kheli confirming the report said the airstrike was carried on Tuesday evening in Chapa Dara district.


US/DoD: Staff Sgt. Randall R. Lane

War News for Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: Fourteen people including eight Taliban fighters were killed in clashes in parts of Faryab province on Monday night, a local official said Tuesday. "Units of the national army in coordination with police raided Taliban hideouts in Qaisar and Ghormach district Monday night, and during the operation which lasted for a few hours, eight Taliban militants including their commander Mohammad Rahim had been killed and several others sustained injuries," an army spokesman in the province, Mohammad Reza told Xinhua. He also confirmed that five local police and an army soldier had lost their live in the clash in Faryab province with Maimana as its capital, which is 425 km northwest of Kabul.

War News for Monday, September 16, 2013

The DoD is reporting the death of Staff Sgt. Robert E. Thomas Jr. who died at the Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas on Friday, September 13th. He was hurt from a a non-combat related incident in Maiwand, Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Sunday, April 21st.


War News for Monday, September 01, 2013
#1: The most senior female police officer in Afghanistan’s restive Helmand province died on Monday after she was shot by unknown assassins in an attack following the recent killing of her predecessor. Both women were gunned down on the streets of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, by unknown assassins in murders that highlighted the grave threat to women who take on public roles in Afghanistan.

#2: At least 20 NATO oil tankers were destroyed in an attack by militants in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. According to the media, the attack took place late Sunday night when the containers, carrying oil and other products for NATO forces in Afghanistan, were parked near a roadside restaurant in the Hub district of Balochistan, Xinhua reported. Around 10-15 militants riding on motorcycles reached the site and started firing rockets at the tankers, which sparked a huge blaze in six containers that later spread to all the other vehicles parked nearby

#3: A roadside bomb killed a Pakistani general and another officer yesterday near the border with Afghanistan, the Pakistani army said, rare high-ranking casualties in Pakistan’s war against militants. Major General Sanaullah Khan, along with a lieutenant colonel and another soldier, were killed in the Upper Dir district after visiting an outpost near the border, the army said. 

#4: At least 15 people were killed and ten others were wounded in clashes in the Wardak province of Afghanistan. At least 15 people, including one police officers, have been killed and ten others, including four army personnel, have been wounded in clashes in the Wardak province of Afghanistan. "The military operations were conducted last night in the capital Maidan Shahr, as well as in the four districts of Jaghatu, Sayed Abad, Dai Mirdad and Chak," Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesperson for the governor of Wardak province, told the Anadolu Agency.

#5: Six government armed oppositions and one border guard were killed in a clash between security forces and armed Taliban in eastern province of Nangarhar, an official said Monday. A police officer, Col. Massum Khan Hashemi told Wakht News Agency the conflict erupted in Pachiragam district, where a security checkpoint known as Pachir was attacked by militants.

#6: Afghan police backed by the national army have killed over two dozen Taliban fighters over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Monday.

#7: Cross-border shelling by Pakistani military continues in eastern Afghanistan, with the latest report of over 40 missiles fired in eastern Kunar province. Mr. Malik further added that the shelling did not incur any casualties to local residents, however, damages to houses and properties of local residents were reported.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Robert E. Thomas Jr.

News of the Day for Sunday, September 15, 2013

Female police lieutenant Negara is shot on her way to work in Lashkar Gah. She is hospitalized but is expected to survive. Her predecessor, Islam Bibi, was assassinated in July. The Taliban often attack prominent women, but conservative male relatives may as well.

Roadside bomb kills 2 police, injures 3, in eastern Laghman province.

Twenty seven coal miners are killed in a mine collapse in Samangan province. Twenty people are said to have been injured attempting rescue. It appears the mine is government owned, but operated by a private contractor.

Student at a religious school in Logar is kidnapped and later found murdered. No motive is proposed in the report.

However, in a similar incident in Ghazni the student was accused of cooperation with police. His bullet riddled body had a note attached making the accusation.

A Pakistani major general, a lieutenant colonel, and an enlisted man are killed in an explosion near the Afghan border.

The Afghan Interior Ministry claims 64 Taliban killed in the past 24 hours. As usual, this claim is uncorroborated, non-specific, and accompanied by no acknowledgment of any Afghan government or civilian casualties. (I pass these along only because somebody might accuse me of ignoring them. However, I suggest that you do so. -- C)

Meanwhile, in Iraq, a wave of bombings, mostly in Shiite areas, killed 35 people on Sunday. The head of the Baghdad provincial council escapes assassination  but the attack kills 2 people.

A Lebanese newspaper claims that equipment for the manufacture of chemical weapons has been moved from Syria to Iraq. This is consistent with claims by Free Syrian Army commander Salim Idriss, who the newspaper backs. However, there is no corroboration and the Iraqi government denies it. Israeli and U.S. sources also dismiss the claim, according to the Times of Israel. I note this because we will likely be hearing more of this sort of thing.

War News for Saturday, September 14, 2013

I don’t feel like taking the time to do a write up, but a polish soldier died 3 weeks after being wounded.

Reported security incidents
#1: A bomb explosion Saturday killed two members of a Pakistani pro- government militia and wounded four others during an archaeological dig in a tribal district on the Afghanistan border, officials said. The incident took place in the mountainous area of Darra, 30 kilometres (18 miles) northeast of Khar, the main town of Bajaur tribal district, one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal regions.

#2: An official says a suicide car bomber apparently aiming to hit a NATO-Afghan convoy near the southern city of Kandahar blew up early, killing at least three civilians. Saturday's explosion occurred along a highway near the Kandahar airport.

#3: Twenty-two militants were killed earlier Saturday in a clash between security forces and militants in eastern Afghan province of Kunar, army sources said. "The Afghan army and police came in contact with the militants in Waligram area of Chapadara district. The engagement lasted for hours, killing 22 armed militants," army spokesman in the region Haron Yousufi told Xinhua.

War News for Friday, September 13, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from non-combat related injuries in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, September 13th.


Raid on U.S. Mission Points to Afghan Security Woes


Reported security incidents
#1: Three security force members and four attackers killed in car bomb and gun attack near US compound in city of Herat. At least seven people have died and 17 others injured in an apparent Taliban attack targeting the United States consulate in Herat, Afghanistan. Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi, the governor of Herat province, told the AP news agency that the attack began at about 6am local time (2am GMT) on Friday with a powerful car bomb explosion about 60m from the consulate compound. Loud explosions followed by gunfire were heard and a plume of thick smoke was seen rising over the city, in the west of Afghanistan. Two policemen and a consulate security guard were reported killed and 17 others - including four women and two other police - were injured. Local sources told Al Jazeera there were five attackers, four of whom were killed by police or by detonating bombs.

#2: Gunmen attacked a convoy of NATO oil tankers in southwest Pakistan overnight, killing a driver and torching eight vehicles, local officials said Friday. The attackers fired rockets and bullets at the convoy of 15 oil tankers travelling from Karachi to Afghanistan. “The gunmen attacked the convoy at a rest stop in Soorab town of Kallat district. They fired rockets and bullets on the convoy from both sides of the road,” police official Yousaf Reiki said. “One Pakistani driver of a tanker died in the attack while eight tankers were burnt,” he added.

#3: Afghan forces operations against Taliban militants have claimed the lives of 18 Taliban fighters and led to arresting 35 others over the past five days, officials said Friday. In the latest crackdown against Taliban militants, the security forces raided Taliban hideouts in Charchino district of the southern Uruzgan province 370 km south of Kabul on Thursday and so far 18 insurgents have been killed, police asserted.

#4: One person was killed and three others sustained injuries as a bomb blast rocked Uruzgan's provincial capital Trinkot 370 km south of Kabul on Friday, police spokesman in the province, Farid Ayel said.

War News for Thursday, September 12, 2013

Pakistan set to raise US drone attacks at UN: Foreign Ministry

Afghan Army Struggles in District Under Siege


Reported security incidents

War News for Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: The Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs on Wednesday said that the country's security forces have killed 37 militants during a series of operations. "In past 24 hours, Afghan police, army and the National Security Directorate, the country's intelligence agency, conducted several joint clearance operations in Nangarhar, Jawzjan, Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Wardak, Logar, Ghazni, Paktika, Paktiya, Herat and Helmand provinces. As a result 37 armed Taliban were killed, 16 wounded and one was arrested," the ministry said in a statement issued here Wednesday afternoon.

War News for Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: Seven Afghan civilians were killed and 17 wounded Tuesday when a bus was struck by a roadside bomb in the country’s eastern province of Ghazni, police said.

#2: A government official says militants have beheaded three members of an anti-Taliban militia in the Bara area of Khyber Agency in country\'s northwest. Iqbal Khan says the militants also abducted three other members of the militia on Monday in the Khyber tribal area. Khan, a government administrator, said on Tuesday that dozens of militants took part in the attack in the Bara area of Khyber.

#3: Two suicide bombers wearing police uniform allegedly attempting to blow up themselves inside the district chief office in Panjwayee were shot dead before reaching their target, an official said Tuesday. The incident took place in Panjwahee district, where the couple equipped with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) wanted to detonate the chief office after succeeding to enter the compound, said governor spokesman, Jawid Faisal.

#4: Twenty-five militants were killed and eight others were wounded in a series of military operations across Afghanistan since Monday morning, said the country's Interior Ministry on Tuesday. "In the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police (ANP) conducted several joint clearance operations with the cooperation of Afghan army, National Security Directorate and Coalition Forces in Badakhshan, Kapisa, Kandahar and Helmand provinces. As a result 25 armed Taliban was killed, eight wounded and eight others were arrested," the ministry said in a statement providing operational updates.

War News for Monday, September 09, 2013

Renowned Canadian professor: US war on Syria prelude to a World War III scenario


Reported security incidents
#1: A suicide bomber blew himself up on Monday in the Taliban birthplace of the Panjwai district in the southern Kandahar province, 450 km south of Kabul, in an incident that led to the death of the two attackers, district governor Fazal Mohammad said. "Two suicide bombers attempted to enter the district headquarters of Panjwai district at 11:45 a.m. local time but were identified by the police. One of them blew himself up and the second one was gunned down by the police," Mohammad told Xinhua.

#2: Two Afghan soldiers were killed Monday morning in an explosion in the country ‘s southern province of Helmand, said a provincial government spokesman. “One Afghan National Army (ANA) van touched off an improvised explosive device (IED) in Band-e Barq area of Gereshk district at around 6:00 a.m. local time. Three soldiers were aboard the vehicle. Two soldiers were martyred and one was wounded in the blast,” spokesman Omar Zwak told Xinhua.

#3: At least four Afghan intelligence agents were killed and dozens of civilians were wounded Sunday when a group of Taliban militants attacked an intelligence bureau in central Afghanistan, officials said. Six attackers armed with guns and suicide vests attacked a National Directorate of Security (NDS) building in Maidan Shar, the capital city of Wardak province south of the capital Kabul, provincial spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP. "Five attackers and four intelligence officers were killed in the ensuing clash. Thirty civilians were wounded," he said. The first attacker was killed when he smashed his explosives-laden vehicle into the gate of the bureau, opening the way for the other five to enter the building, he said. The fighting lasted an hour, ending only when all the militants were dead. An AFP reporter said he had seen the bodies of five militants at the scene. Doctor Ghulam Farooq Wardak, an official at Wardak central hospital, said more than 150 people — mostly civilians — were wounded.

#4: A policeman was martyred and two attackers were killed when a blast occurred at a local court in Kohat followed by gunshots on Monday, Geo News reported. According to the police, unknown miscreants attacked the DPO office with hand grenades after which an exchange of fire between the police and attackers took place at the district court. As a result of grenade blast and firing, two attackers were killed while a policeman was also martyred. At least nine persons also sustained injuries during the battle who were shifted to the hospital for treatment.

#5: At least three policemen were killed when unknown assailants attacked a security check-post here in Kashmore on Monday. According to SSP Umer Salamat, miscreants stormed Samija check-post of Badani police station in district Kashmore with heavy weapons.

News of the Day for Sunday, September 8, 2013

According to local sources, drone  attack in Kunar Province kills 10 civilians, along with 6 Taliban. ISAF issues a statement denying that civilians were killed (as they always do). AFP has more detailed accounts from local officials, which sound compelling. (The reported casualty totals vary.)

Kunar police chief Abdul Habib Sayedkhil told AFP the airstrike hit a pickup truck carrying the women and children, as well as four armed insurgents. "At least four women, four children and two civilian drivers were killed in a NATO airstrike in Wattapur district of Kunar province," he said. Kunar Provincial governor Shujaul Mulk Jalala told AFP that 12 civilians - four women, four children and four men - were killed, along with four insurgents.

Suicide car bombing in Maidan Shahr, capital of Wardak, is said to have killed several people. Other sources say that only the bomber was killed but many people were injured. The target was apparently a military base.

Authorities claim 24 militants killed in an Afghan special forces operation  in Badakhshan province, near the Tajikistan border. As usual, they report no Afghan government or civilian casualties.

Member of Parliament Fariba Ahmadi Kakar, who was abducted last month with her children, is freed in a prisoner exchange in which 5 Taliban fighters and 6 of their family members were also released. Her children and driver had been freed earlier.

Fighting in Kunduz province leaves casualties on both sides. As usual, Afghan government and Taliban accounts differ. Government says 9 insurgents killed, along with 1 police officer and 1 soldier. Taliban say 15 security personnel "killed or wounded." (Both could be true, of course.)

Insurgents attack a security checkpoint in Nangarhar, with conflicting reports on casualties. A government spokesman says one attacker was killed and another injured. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says two police vehicles were destroyed, 3 soldiers killed and 5 injured, while confirming 1 insurgent death.

A protest outside the Iranian consulate in Herat turns violent;  security forces kill one protester and injure 3 others, while the building is damaged. The protesters were angry at corruption in the process of obtaining visas to enter Iran. (Regular readers will remember that there has long been anger among Afghans over Iranian immigration policy and treatment of migrants. Economic desperation has led many Afghans to seek employment in Iran.)

 

War News for Saturday, September 07, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: Unidentified gunmen fired more than two-dozen rockets in a Pakistan Army cantonment and nearby checkposts. According to sources, the long-range rockets were fired on Sui cantonment and nearby checkposts as the army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch were visiting the area.

#2: Two civilians lost their lives as a roadside bomb struck a civilian car in Alishing district of the eastern Laghman province Friday morning, local government said in a statement. "A mine planted by Taliban militants on a road in Alishing district struck a civilian car at around 10:00 a.m. local time killing two commuters on the spot and injuring two others," the statement sent to media outlets confirmed.

#3: Furthermore, operation against Taliban militants in the northeast Badakhshan province left four Taliban fighters dead and injured six others including three Afghan soldiers, local officials asserted. "Afghan forces raided Taliban hideouts in Ragistan and Zibak districts in Badakhshan province on Friday morning during which four rebels including a Taliban commander named Mullah Abdul Rahman were killed," spokesman for Badakhshan provincial government , Abdul Marouf Rasikh told Xinhua. He also added that six others including three militants were injured during the clash which lasted for a while.
.#4: Daulat Mohammad the governor of Wardoj district of Badakhshan province admitted that a mine planted by militants struck a military vehicle injuring three Afghan soldiers. However, the Taliban outfit which has been fighting the government confirmed the skirmishes in both Badakhshan in Laghman provinces and in statement posted on the outfit's website claiming inflicting casualties on Afghan forces, a claim rejected by local officials as groundless.

#5: One person was killed and three others injured Saturday morning when angry protesters raided the Iranian consulate in Herat city, the provincial capital of western Afghan province of Herat, the police said.

#6: Afghan security forces killed nearly three dozens of Taliban militants over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Saturday. "Units of the national police backed by the national army and the NATO-led coalition forces have killed 35 armed Taliban rebels across the country over the past 24 hours," the statement asserted.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Todd J. Lobraico Jr.

War News for Friday, September 06, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, September 5th.


Last UK Troops Leave Nad-e Ali Base

Pakistan condemns US drone strike

NATO oil supplies via Pakistan resume


Reported security incidents
#1: An American drone killed at least six people in Pakistan early Friday morning, in a northwestern region known as a hideout for Taliban and al Qaeda militants. The strike occurred in the North Waziristan tribal area, near the border with Afghanistan. The identities of the killed aren’t yet known, The New York Times reported. Other media put the death toll at four.

#2: Two civilians were blown up Friday and two injured when a roadside bomb struck a car near Kabul. The blast occurred in Laghman province, 90 km east of Kabul, Xinhua reported citing a provincial government press release.

#3: An AV-8B Harrier from Marine Attack Squadron 311 was heavily damaged earlier this summer after it veered off the runway at Camp Bastion and caught fire while deployed in Afghanistan. According to an incident listed on the Naval Safety Center's website, the accident happened on July 10. A report about the accident on the center's website indicates the crash occurred when an outrigger landing gear on the jet collapsed shortly after touchdown, causing it to veer off the runway onto an unprepared surface and catch fire. 

#4: Six people were injured when a Nato container came under hand grenade attack on Jamrud Road near the Karkhano market Thursday afternoon. A Nato supply trailer carrying an armoured car was on its way from Afghanistan when men riding a motorcycle lobbed a hand grenade at its windscreen. The bomb exploded, injuring six people, including a taxi driver and a passerby. The attackers sped away unidentified.

War News for Thursday, September 05, 2013

Tirah Valley cleared of terrorists: army


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan authorities say police killed two militants in an early morning shootout at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Kabul.

#2: Two security personals were martyred while four sustained injuries in a remote controlled bomb in Dera Bugti area in Jaffarabad. According to reports, security forces vehicle was on routine patrolling in Jaffarabad area of Dera Bugti when a remote controlled device planted on the road side exploded. As a result of blast two security personals were killed instantly while four sustained injuries.

#3: Two powerful explosions went off outside the SP investigations office Dera Ismail Khan Thursday morning, no loss of life was reported.

#4: A person has been killed in a landmine blast in Jaffarabad district. Levies sources said on Thursday that unknown men planted a landmine roadside in RD-298 area of Jaffarabad district that exploded when foot of a passerby hit it.

#5: At around midnight, militants raided a police checkpoint in Shindand district of western Herat province, killing four policemen, a provincial source told Xinhua but declined to be named. He said the attack resulted in fierce exchange of fire between police personnel and the militants, in which several militants were killed or injured in the province, 640 km west of national capital Kabul.

#6: In addition, eight civilians, including six women, were wounded when a Taliban mortar round hit a house near an army base in Maiwand district of Kandahar province, 450 km south of Kabul, the provincial government confirmed in a statement.

#7: Separately, six militants were killed during a search operation in the country's northern province of Kunduz early Thursday morning. "The joint operation was conducted by army and police in Dasht- i-Archi district. A Taliban local leader named Qari Maliak was among the killed in the raid which took place in Timoryan area of the district," deputy provincial police chief Ebadullah Talwar told Xinhua, adding no security force member was hurt in the raid.

War News for Wednesday, September 04, 2013

U.S. documents detail al-Qaeda’s efforts to fight back against drones


Reported security incidents
#1: Twenty-seven Taliban militants were killed during a series of cleanup operations in different Afghan provinces since Tuesday morning, said the country’s Interior Ministry on Wednesday. "In the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police , army, National Security Directorate and the NATO-led troops carried out several cleanup operations, killing 27 armed Taliban insurgents,” the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates. They also injured 10 militants and arrested seven others during the raids, which were launched in Nuristan, Baghlan, Kunduz, Kandahar, Wardak and Helmand provinces.

 #2: Earlier Wednesday morning, two Afghan army soldiers were wounded and one army van was damaged in an IED attack in Pul-e- Behsoud area of the eastern province of Nangarhar, provincial police spokesman Colonel Hazrat Husain Mashriqiwal told Xinhua.

#3: Three accused were killed and one Ranger martyred in an encounter with the criminals at Baghdadi in Lyari Town on Wednesday here, Local TV reported. Rangers intelligence on a tip-off that some hardened criminals were hiding in Baghdadi area of Lyari Town swiftly went into action and cordoned off the area and asked the accused to surrender, but they went on trading gunfire with the Rangers that left one Ranger martyred and three accused killed, said the spokesman of Rangers.

#4: A provincial judge was killed Tuesday in a drive-by shooting in western Afghanistan's Herat province, police said. "Sayed Ahmad Khaliqi was killed near his residence by two gunmen riding a motorcycle. The incident happened in Baba Hajji neighborhood of the provincial capital Herat city, 640 km west of national capital Kabul, at around midday," head of provincial criminal investigation department Lieutenant Colonel Israheel Khan told Xinhua.

War News for Monday, September 03, 2013

Photos: Taliban militants attack U.S. forces' base in E Afghanistan

Afghan security death toll 'unsustainable': NATO commander

Top-secret U.S. intelligence files show new levels of distrust of Pakistan


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan police have killed 12 militants and arrested 33 others during cleanup operation within day, said the country's Interior Ministry on Tuesday morning. "Afghan National Police (ANP), supported by the army, intelligence agency and the NATO-led coalition forces, carried out several cleanup operations in Helmand, Ghor, Paktiya, Logar, Wardak, Uruzgan, Kandahar, Kunduz, Baghlan and Nangarhar provinces over the past 24 hours. As a result, 12 armed Taliban were killed, two wounded and 33 others were arrested," the ministry said in a statement.

#2: Two alleged terrorists were killed during encounter with police in Pir Abad area on Tuesday. According to police, a gang of five armed men on motorbikes attacked police mobile in the area of Pir Abad and injured a policeman.



  

War News for Monday, September 01, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: NATO and Afghan forces fought back Taliban attackers who launched an assault Monday on a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. The insurgents detonated explosives and then began firing guns in an area where NATO supply trucks were parked in Nangarhar province, said Ahmed Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the province's governor. The initial attack was repulsed and Afghan and NATO troops engaged the militants in a firefight for about two hours, during which all the attackers were killed, Abdulzai said. No civilians or military personnel were killed, he said, and only a few NATO supply trucks caught fire during the violence.

At least three people — apparently all attacking insurgents — were killed.

#2: Six boys were killed on a swimming outing in northern Afghanistan, apparently the victims of policemen who fired a rocket into a river, according to Afghan officials and relatives of the victims. The suspects were identified as policemen, and six of them were arrested, including their commander, Lt Ahmed Farid, officials said. The episode took place on Saturday in the village of Drumbak, in Baghlan province, when policemen on one side of the Larkhab River fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the water. But the round went astray and exploded among a group of children bathing on the opposite shore, about 50 yards away.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/09/01/3157978/official-afghan-militants-attack.html#storylink=cpy

#3: A roadside bomb killed nine Pakistani soldiers and wounded 19 others Sunday in a restive northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said. The incident happened in the Boya area of North Waziristan, a stronghold of militants linked to the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

#4: A provincial governor says a vehicle carrying employees of a private mining company has struck a roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan, killing eight. Parwan province leader Abdul Basir Salangi says five people also were wounded on Saturday in Bagram district. He says all of the victims were either labourers or security guards of the company working in a chromite mine.

#5: At least 42 militants were killed and eight wounded in operations since early Sunday, said the Afghan Interior Ministry on Monday morning. "In past 24 hours, Afghan National Police (ANP), army and intelligence agency, supported by the NATO-led coalition troops, conducted several cleanup operations, killing 42 armed Taliban militants, wounding eight and arresting 11 other suspects," the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates. The raids were conducted in Nangarhar, Baghlan, Kunduz, Sari Pul, Balkh, Kandahar, Zabul, Logar, Paktika, Paktiya, Herat and Helmand provinces, it noted.


US/DoD: Staff Sgt. Joshua J. Bowden 

News of the Day for Sunday, September 1, 2013

Local civilians find the bodies of 7 Afghan soldiers in Ghazni province. The men had apparently been kidnapped at various times, then shot, and their bodies dumped in a common location.

The car of Lal Agha Kakar, a mayor in Nangarhar, is destroyed by a sticky bomb and his driver is seriously injured, in Jalalabad. Kakar was not in the vehicle. The story does not say of what city or town he is mayor. (After a quick search, I have not found the name of the mayor of Jalalabad, which seems the most logical guess.)

Local officials in Herat say the Afghan army killed 7 insurgents in a night-time action.

Truckers on the Kabul-Herat highway strike over deteriorating security. "The Kabul-Herat highway, particularly the area passing through Kandahar, has become the site of routine attacks by insurgents and Illegal Armed Groups (IAGs) against travellers, and most often oil tankers. In addition to being targeted by Taliban insurgents, striking drivers in Kabul said IAGs abduct people on the Kabul-Herat highway for ransom with impunity." They also complain of simple armed robbery.

A firefight is reported between security forces and would-be suicide bombers in Zabul. As of this report, the situation was unresolved. Four police and 4 civilians had been injured by gunfire; the insurgents are apparently holed up in a residence.

Karzai cans his interior minister for the second time in a year. The new IM, formerly ambassador to Pakistan, is presidential hopeful Umer Daudzai.

Eight mining workers are killed by a roadside bomb in Bagram, Parwan province, and four are injured.