War News for Saturday, November 30, 2013

AIDS epidemic rapidly spreading in Pakistan


Reported security incidents
#1: Police say one policeman was killed when armed men opened fire on police officers protecting a team of polio-vaccination workers in northwest Pakistan on November 30. The attack happened near the city of Peshawar. Another policeman was injured.

#2: Three armed militants were killed and two civilians sustained injuries as police clashed with armed group in Khanabad District of the northern Kunduz Province Saturday, a local official said. "A group of armed men were illegally collecting taxes from drivers on a road in Khanabad District, and when police wanted to arrest them, clash erupted leaving three armed rebels dead," district governor Hayatullah Amiri told Xinhua. One driver and a passerby sustained injuries during the firefight, which lasted for a while, he added.

#3: Explosion and ensuing firing took place in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of southern Afghanistan's Helmand province Friday evening and casualties are feared, officials said.

At least three Afghan intelligence forces were killed or injured following a suicide attack in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan late Friday evening. Local officials in southern Helmand province of Afghanistan confirmed the report and said the blast took place late Friday evening in Amniat-e-Millie – National Directorate of Security (NDS) road. Provincial governor spokesman, Omar Zwak said at least one Afghan intelligence operative was killed and two others were injured following a suicide attack near the national directorate of security (NDS) directorate.

#4: According to local authorities in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, Pakistani military opened artillery fire at a number of areas in Shegal district late Friday. Provincial security chief, Abdul Habib Syed Khel said at least 20 rounds of artillery shells were fired by Pakistani military late Friday night. Mr. Syed Khel further added that no casualties were reported following the cross-border shelling, however the shelling caused property damage to the local residents.

#5: According to local authorities in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, a US drone has crashed in Chaparahar district on Saturday afternoon.

#6: According to local authorities in western Herat province of Afghanistan, Taliban shadow district governor for Shindand was killed during a military operation by Afghan special forces. A local security official in Adraskan district confirmed the report and said seven other militants were also killed during the operation. A spokesman for the Afghan special forces in Herat province said the operations were launched after a vehicle of the Afghan national army commando forces was ambushed by Taliban militants.

War News for Friday, November 29, 2013

NATO probes Afghan airstrike that killed child

3 Canadian veterans from Afghan war found dead in a week

Old Etonian army officer shot dead at point blank range moments after giving a gun back to Afghan 'ally'


Reported security incidents
#1: A helicopter that was attacked in eastern Afghanistan apparently belonged to a Russian company, Russian diplomats said Friday. Unidentified men fired at the helicopter in the province of Gardez on Thursday. No injuries were reported, and damage from the attack was limited to a single bullet hole in the aircraft’s side, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Kabul said.

#2: A US drone strike targeting a militant compound killed at least two suspected insurgents in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border on Friday, officials said. The strike took place in the Anghar area, 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal region, a stronghold for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants. "A US drone fired two missiles on a militant compound, killing two suspected militants," a senior security official told AFP.

#3: One Afghan child was killed and seven civilians wounded Friday in a suicide bomb attack in the country's southern province of Kandahar, said the provincial sources.

#4: Two Afghan civilians were killed and two others wounded Friday in a shooting in the country's northern province of Kunduz, the police said. "Two civilians were killed and two others wounded in a shooting incident in Jargozar area of the provincial capital Kunduz city early Friday morning," the deputy provincial police chief Gen. Ebadullah Talwar told Xinhua.

War News for Thursday, November 28, 2013

CIA's most senior officer in Pakistan 'unmasked' by Imran Khan's party


Reported security incidents
#1: Six civilians were killed and some injured on Thursday when two bombs exploded in eastern Afghanistan, a local official said. "A bomb was placed in a car and second one was a roadside bomb, but it is not yet clear if they were remotely detonated," said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province.

#2: Three anti-government elements were killed and another wounded, during a series of clearance operation launched by the Afghan forces in southern province of Kandahar, an official said Thursday.

#3: The armed conflict between Taliban militants and police in Badakhshan Province with Faizabad as its capital 315 km northeast of Kabul have left eight Taliban fighters dead, Inspector General of Badakhshan's police, Fazaldin Ayar said Thursday. "Our operations against Taliban rebels in Jarm District began Monday and so far eight rebels have been killed and two others injured," Ayar told Xinhua. Two policemen have also sustained injuries during the operations, he admitted.

#4: Gun battle between Taliban militants and Afghan security forces left six militants and one civilian dead in the central Wardak province on Wednesday, spokesman for provincial administration Ataullah Khogyani said Thursday. "Units of security forces raided Taliban hideouts in parts of Wardak province last night, killing six Taliban rebels including their commander Mullah Nematullah," Khogyani told Xinhua. However, he added that the Taliban militants in reaction shot dead a guard of a school in Nurkh district last night.

War News for Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Pakistan releases 3 senior Afghan Taliban leaders


Reported security incidents
#1: Suspected Taliban gunmen have killed six aid workers in Afghanistan and wounded a seventh. Police in Afghanistan's northern province of Faryab said Wednesday that the attackers targeted local workers for a French aid group known as ACTED. ACTED released a statement saying its workers, who were Afghans, were ambushed and gunned down as they were traveling by car in Faryab province. Of seven passengers in the car, only one survived.

#2: An Afghan local leader was killed in a drive-by shooting in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, said a provincial source on Wednesday. "The leader named Abdul Satar was killed following a shooting incident in Kabali Wat area of provincial capital Lashkar Gah Tuesday evening. The attackers riding a motorbike fled the scene shortly after the incident," the provincial government spokesman Omar Zwak told Xinhua.

#3-4: At least five cops were killed and aother was injured in two separate incidents of firing at police mobiles in Pakistan's southern Hyderabad city on Tuesday night, local media reported.

#3: The first incident happened at about 7:45 p.m. local time when some unknown gunmen coming on motorbikes opened fire at a police mobile in Latif Abad area of Hyderabad, a main city in the country 's south Sindh province. Police said that the killed cops working for A-Section police station of the city were attacked when they stopped at the main road for checking passing vehicles.

#4: Minutes after the attack, another incident of firing took place in almost the same area when some unknown gunmen sprayed bullets at a police mobile, killing one police man and injuring another.

#5: At least 33 Taliban militants were killed during military operations conducted by Afghan national security forces in various provinces of Afghanistan during the past 24 hours.

War News for Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Militants release Pakistan polio workers


Reported security incidents
#1: Army gunship helicopters have shelled the position of terrorists in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan Agency. The Pakistan Army launched an attack against militants in different areas of North Waziristan's tribal region that borders war-stricken Afghanistan, sources said Tuesday.

#2: According to police, two armed motorcyclists opened fire at a local bus on Sariab Road near Gahi Khan Chowk resultantly injuring two persons and sped away. The injured were rushed to Civil Hospital Quetta but both succumbed to their wounds on the way.

#3: Two militants were killed and four policemen were wounded early Tuesday morning in an engagement in the eastern Afghan province of Laghman, said the provincial government. "An unknown number of militants launched an armed attack against Afghan Local Police (ALP) security checkpoint at around 2: 00 a.m. (local time) in Shamtayo area of the province. The ALP repelled the attack, killing two militants," the provincial government said in a statement.

#4: several shops were damaged and their classes were smashed following a bomb explosion near a music shop in Jalalabad, the provincial capital of the eastern Nangarhar Province Monday evening, a police official told Xinhua. The blast caused no human casualties, the source noted.

#5: According to local authorities in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, a helicopter belonging to Afghan forces has crashed in this province. The helicopter has reportedly crashed in Haidar Khan area of eastern Nangarhar province late Monday, Shirzad district chief confirmed.

#6: An explosion rocked took place in capital Kabul early Tuesday morning, security officials in Kabul city said. The interior ministry of Afghanistan following a statement confirmed the report and said no casualties were reported following the blast.

War News for Monday, November 25, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: Two local Taliban leaders were killed in an air raid in eastern Afghanistan's Wardak province overnight, the provincial sources said Monday. "The Taliban local leaders named Noor Sayyed and Ezatullah were killed in an airstrike in Kohna Khumar, a suburb of the provincial capital at early hours of Monday," the provincial government said in a statement.

#2: Earlier on Monday, the Afghan Interior Ministry said that five militants were killed, three wounded and three arrested in a series of military operations in other provinces within the last 24 hours.

Ten militants were killed and three others detained in separate joint military operations across Afghanistan within the last 24 hours, said the country's Interior Ministry on Monday.

#3: The Afghan national security forces thwarted missile attack plot in capital Kabul, which was aimed to disturb the national grand council (Loya Jirga).

News of the Day for Sunday, November 24, 2013

In an odd twist, the Loya Jirga overwhelmingly backs the security pact with the U.S., but president Karzai says he won't sign it as is and intends to continue negotiating. It is unclear why he called the jirga, which required essentially locking down the capital city for 6 days. "Even Mr. Karzai’s allies were at a loss to explain what he hoped to gain from the perplexing series of events around what was expected to be a straightforward deal."

Chair of the Jirga, Sibghatulullah Mojaddedi, lectured Karzai, warning that if he delays signing the agreement, ``I’ll resign and leave the country.’’ Mojaddedi is a long-time confidante of Karzai, adding to the perplexing nature of these events.

Two civilians are killed and a police officer injured  in Jalalabad by a bomb planted in a trash can.

Two members of the Afghan border police killed in an insider attack in southern Kandahar province. The perpetrator escaped.

A member of the Takhar Province provincial council, Qari Khal Mohammad, is killed by explosives planted in his vehicle.

War News for Saturday, November 23, 2013

Thousands block NATO supply route in Pakistan


Reported security incidents
#1: Two children were injured when the Afghanistan-based militants fired mortar shells on the Nawagai tehsil of the Bajaur Agency on Friday.The sources said the militants fired mortar shells from the Kunar province of Afghanistan which hit a house in Hashim Charmang village in the Nawagai tehsil.

#2: Unidentified armed men in Maidan Wardak Province attacked and wounded Malik Hassan, a leading tribal elder, the governor's spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, said November 22. The assailants opened fire on Hassan's home in Daimirdad District, Khogyani said in his statement.

#3: Militants kidnapped 11 Pakistani teachers involved in a polio vaccination campaign for school children on Saturday, officials said, the latest in a string of attacks on health workers trying to eradicate the deadly disease.

#4: Seven Taliban militants were killed as their explosive device went off prematurely in the eastern Nangarhar province on Friday night, Interior Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

War News for Friday, November 22, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: Units of Afghan police backed by the army have killed a dozen Taliban militants during series of operations across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Friday. “In past 24 hours, Afghan National Police backed by the army and have killed 12 Taliban rebels in Kabul, Balkh, Kandahar, Maidan Wardak, Logar, Nimroz and Helmand provinces,” the statement added.

War News for Thursday, November 21, 2013

Cold War-era 'Warthog' targeted for retirement

Pact May Extend U.S. Troops’ Stay in Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: A US drone strike has killed at least five people in an Islamic seminary in Pakistan's north-western Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, officials say. At least two of the dead were militants, officials said. Students and clerics were also reported killed.

#2: At least three people were killed and 18 other were left wounded in a powerful bomb blast on Thursday near the Custom House at the Torkham border crossing in Pakistan’s tribal area of Khyber Agency.

#3: At least five people including security personnel have been killed and several others wounded in a blast occurred in Satellite town area of Quetta here on Thursday. The explosion occurred at Satellite town in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province. Officials at the site told Aaj news that five persons including two security personnel, were killed and several others, including security personnel and passersby, were injured.

#4: In the first incident, the security forces backed by aircrafts raided a Taliban hideout in Wand area of the eastern Nuristan province Wednesday evening, killing seven militants, a senior police officer Habibullah Sayed Khili told Xinhua. In a related incident, a group of Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint in Manogai distirct of the eastern Kunar province on Thursday, injuring 11 security personnel, the official added. #5: Three civilians were killed and 14 others wounded Wednesday evening when an explosion took place in a restaurant in Kandahar city, the provincial capital of southern Afghan province of Kandahar, sources said. "A blast occurred inside Lemar restaurant at around 6:00 p.m. ( local time) when several people were sitting in the public place," provincial government spokesman Jawid Faisal told Xinhua. The nature of the blast and the target of the attack remained unknown, he said, adding an investigation was launched into the incident.

War News for Thursday, November 20, 2013

US not to target Taliban holding talks: Sartaj Aziz

Afghans Demand That U.S. Admit Military Errors

US officials rejects reports of apology to Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: An Afghan district police chief was killed in an ambush by militants in the volatile southern province of Helmand on Wednesday, officials said. Tooryalai Khan, police chief of Helmand’s Marjah district, was leading an operation against Taliban insurgents in the area when he was ambushed early in the morning, said provincial spokesman Omar Zewak. His bodyguard was wounded in the attack.

#2: Three security personnel were killed and seven injured on Wednesday when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a security check post in Pakistan's troubled North Waziristan region. "The security personnel detailed at the check post in Shawa area of Mir Ali town fired at a speeding vehicle when they spotted it approaching them," a senior security official told Anadolu Agency, wishing not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media. "However, the suicide bomber managed to hit the check post," he added.

a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-filled car into a security checkpoint as militants armed with guns stormed a nearby building in Shawa area of North Waziristan tribal district, killing two personnel, officials said. The post is run jointly by the paramilitary Frontier Corps and tribal police and the adjacent building houses more than 40 security forces. "The attack was successfully thwarted and four militants were killed in the retaliatory fire by police," Sajjad Khan, district police chief told the media.

#3: A suicide bomber who was looking to assassinate Kandahar police chief Gen. Abdul Razaq, was shot dead by Afghan security forces.

War News for Tuesday, November 19, 2013

UN: 12,000 Taliban Killed, Wounded In 2013

Cannibal Killer Served In Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: Five people including four Taliban militants were killed in a clash in Dawlat Shah district of eastern Afghan province of Laghman on Tuesday, the provincial government said in a statement. “A group of armed Taliban rebels stormed a security checkpoint at 02:00 am local time today but the troops returned fire during which five people including four rebels and a security personnel were killed,” the statement added.

#2: A roadside bomb killed seven children from the same family in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province, said the governor’s spokesman Mokhlis Afghan. Another three children in the family were wounded. The children were playing on a road near their home when the bomb exploded.

#3: At least five people, including two women and a child, were injured Tuesday in a hand-grenade attack on a shop in Jannat Bazaar in Balochistan's Gwadar district. According to the police, unknown armed motorbike riders threw a hand grenade at a general store owned by Mohammad Ashraf and escaped from the scene.

#4: Two people, including a driver of Nato container, were killed while the container was set on fire in Naseerabad and Jhal Magsi districts of Balochistan here on Monday.

#5: Afghan police backed by the army have killed 19 Taliban militants during series of operations across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Tuesday.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Alex A. Viola

War News for Monday, November 18, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: A roadside bomb killed two children in southern Afghanistan on Monday. In Monday's explosion, the two children died when their family's vehicle hit a roadside bomb, Rasoolyar told The Associated Press. The family was travelling to the Zabul provincial capital of Qalat for shopping. The father was wounded along with a third child, Rasoolyar said.

#2: update  six bodies found the day before in the restive region where identified as policemen and not laborers, as was initially reported. Deputy governor of southern Zabul province, Mohammed Jan Rasoolyar, said the confusion arose because the bodies found in neighboring Kandahar province were in civilian clothes. The policemen had disappeared several days earlier from Zabul.

#3: Also Monday, police in Kandahar — the birthplace of the Taliban — stopped a tractor hauling improvised explosive devises, said Javid Faisal, the provincial governor's spokesman. A firefight erupted as the police tried to stop the vehicle near the border with Pakistan, he said. The shooting ignited the devises, killing the driver and a second person on the tractor.

#4: At least 10 Taliban militants were killed during joint military operations by Afghan and coalition security forces in various provinces of Afghanistan, the interior ministry of Afghanistan announced Monday. Interior ministry officials also added that three militants were also arrested during the operations which were conducted in the past 24 hours. The statement further added, “The operations were conducted in Laghman, Parwan, Kandahar, Zabul, Maidan Wardak, Helmand and Nimroz provinces

#5: At least two Afghan national police officers were killed following a roadside improvised explosive (IED) explosion in capital Kabul on Sunday. According to reports, the incident took place in Paghman area at western part of Kabul city.

News of the Day for Sunday, November 17, 2013

ISAF reports a death on Sunday. "An International Security Assistance Force service member died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan Nov. 17." As usual, no further information at this time.

Death toll in Saturday suicide attack in Kabul now stands at 13. Interior Ministry says 3 members of security forces and 10 civilians died, and 29 people were injured, as a result of a car bomb attack near the site of the upcoming Loya Jirga. Seventeen vehicles and 18 shops were damaged or destroyed.

Suicide attack on Mohammad Zahir Wahdat, the deputy governor of Balkh province, fails to injure the governor who was in an armored vehicle. However a passerby was killed and 2 injured, along with 2 of his bodyguards. The attacker jumped from a roadside ditch and ran toward the governor's vehicle before detonating a bomb apparently strapped to his body.

Decapitated bodies of 6 construction workers found in Kandahar province. The men worked building police facilities. This story also reports six other bodies found elsewhere but gives no details.

Interior Ministry claims 29 Taliban killed and 19 injured in various operations. As usual, this report does not mention any civilian or government casualties. As usual, believe it if you will.

Karzai approves list of Loya Jirga participants. Three thousand people are expected to convene at Polytechnic University in Kabul on Thursday to discuss the security agreement with the U.S. Security is a major concern, as yesterday's attack demonstrates the area is not yet safe.

War News for Saturday, November 16, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: Police say a bomb has exploded near the venue where thousands of influential Afghan figures will gather next week to debate a key U.S.-Afghan security pact. The powerful blast was heard around 3 p.m. local time near the compound on the western edge of the Afghan capital.

#2: Afghan police killed five Taliban militants during series of operations throughout the country over the past 24 hours, the Interior Ministry said in a statement Saturday. The operations, according to the statement, were carried out in Balkh, Kapisa, Kandahar, Logar and Helmand provinces during which one more militant was wounded and two others arrested.

#3-5: Multiple bomb blasts shook Pakistan's northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province today, killing at least one policeman and injuring nearly a dozen people.

#3: Officials said a police van was targeted with a roadside bomb in Mandi area. A policeman was killed and two more were injured.

#4: Earlier, an attack by a suspected suicide bomber in Bannu wounded four paramilitary Frontier Corps personnel and two passers-by, media reports said.

#5: Another bomb attack on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Peshawar injured three persons. Bomb disposal squad officials said an estimated five kilograms of explosives concealed in a cylinder went off near a police van on Kohat Road. The van was destroyed and two policemen and a woman were injured. 

#6: A roadside bomb struck a police van injuring nine people including five civilians outside Nangarhar's provincial capital Jalalabad, 120 km east of Kabul on Saturday, police said. "The tragic incident took place at 11:00 a.m. local time injuring nine people including five innocent civilians and four policemen,"provincial police chief Fazal Ahmad Shirzad told Xinhua.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Richard L. Vazquez

War News for Friday, November 15, 2013

Reported security incidents

#1: A government official in Afghanistan says three bombs have exploded in rapid succession in southern Helmand province, injuring five people. Omar Zawaq, spokesman for Helmand’s governor, says the remote-controlled bombs exploded Thursday near a bus station in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

 

#2: At least 11 Taliban militants including a senior Taliban leader were killed during military operations in central Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan. The provincial government media office following a statement also confirmed the report and said clashes between Afghan security forces and Taliban militants took place after Afghan security forces launched clearance operations in Jaghato, Nerkh, Jalriz and Syedabad districts. Khogyani said at least two civilians were killed along with an Afghan national army soldier, and three civilians were injured during the clashes.

War News for Thursday, November 14, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, November 14th.

Afghan contractor with insurgent ties given contracts, access to U.S. facilities

US cancels purchase of Russian helicopters for Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: Three Taliban militants were killed by police while planting mine on a road in western Afghan province of Farah late Wednesday night, a local official said Thursday. "Four Taliban rebels were busy planting mine on a road in Pustht Koh district when local police patrol identified the rebels and opened fire killing three on the spot," provincial government spokesman Abdul Rahman Zhawandoy told Xinhua.

#2: A suicide bomber, according to Ghazni police, targeted a police checkpoint early Thursday morning killing himself and injuring two policemen. The incident took place in Muqar district at around 05:00 a.m. local time, injuring two local policemen, according to a senior police officer, Assadullah Safi. Safi also noted that the attacker lost his life in the blast.

#3: In the second incident which took place in Kajaki district of Helmand province, two persons were killed as their motorbike ran over a roadside bomb organized by Taliban militants, spokesman for Helmand's provincial government Omar Zawak told Xinhua.

#4: Units of police have killed eight Taliban fighters across the country over the past 24 hours, a statement of Interior Ministry released here on Thursday said.

#5: Taliban militants have torched houses of at least 20 Afghan local police (ALP) officers and militants who have joined peace process in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, local officials said.

War News for Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: Seven Taliban militants were killed in a gun battle in Rigistan district of the southern Afghanistan province of Kandahar Wednesday, police said.

#2: At least two security men were killed in an explosion that occurred near a security check post in Takhta Beg area, of northern Pakistani tribal region, bordering Afghanistan on Wednesday. According to political administration officials, unknown persons had planted an explosive device near the Takhta Beg checkpoint in Jamrud that exploded on Wednesday morning with a huge bang killing two security men.

#3: In another related incident, militants attacked a police check post in northern Bannu district wounding two security men. According to police officials, the militants fired 12 rockets at the police check post in the northwestern district of Bannu, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province but police retaliated and managed to repulse the attack.

#4: Afghan officials say roadside bombings in the restive south and west have killed three boys. One of Wednesday's attacks took place in western Farah province, where two boys died. A provincial governor's spokesman, Abdul Rahman Zhawandai, says a bomb exploded outside a school just as the boys came out. That explosion also wounded three students.

#5: The third boy was killed in the southern Uruzgan province, a Taliban stronghold. Police spokesman Farid Ayal says the teenager was returning home on his bicycle when the explosion occurred.

#6: Afghan police backed by the national army have killed more than three dozen Taliban militants during series of operations across the country over the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said in a statement released here on Wednesday.

#7: Six Taliban militants were killed and three local Taliban leaders were arrested in army operations in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province on Tuesday, an army source said Wednesday morning.

#8: Police chief for Registan district escaped unhurt from an attack by Taliban militants in southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan, local officials said. According to a statement released by the provincial government media office, Taliban militants ambushed the convoy of Registan police chief early Wednesday.

War News for Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Soldier shot dead during military exercise before deployment in Afghanistan

Militant Leader Is Killed in Pakistan

Afghan intelligence abandon probe into civilians deaths by US forces


Reported security incidents
#1: Two Taliban militants were killed and five others including three Taliban fighters and two policemen sustained injuries as clash erupted in Afghan Jauzjan province with Shiberghan as its capital Monday night, police said Tuesday.

#2: Units of Afghan police backed by the army have killed 14 Taliban militants throughout the country over the past 24 hours, Afghan Interior Ministry (MoI) said in a statement released here on Tuesday.

War News for Monday, November 11, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: The chief financier of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network militant group has been shot dead in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, Reuters quoted militant sources as saying.

#2: One militant was killed and 14 were detained in operations in separate Afghan provinces since early Sunday, the country's Interior Ministry said Monday.

News of the Day for Sunday, November 10, 2013

Pentagon report to Congress suggests a stalemate in the Afghanistan conflict. On the one hand, the rate of insurgent attacks has declined overall, and population centers are more secure. On the other hand, Afghan government forces are suffering more casualties, and the Taliban has consolidated its control of some rural areas.

A local official says that 45 militants have laid down arms in Baghlan province and "resumed normal life." The government claims that a total of 4,000 militants have given up armed struggle in the past year, a number which the Taliban disputes.

National Directorate of Security claims arrest of a Taliban commander in Kandahar province. He is said to have led a cell of 12 men.

NDS also claims arrest of 4 mine planters in Nangarhar.

Fighting in Helmand leaves seven militants and three police dead. A separate clash in the province is said to have resulted in death of four Taliban and one Afghan soldier, with twelve Taliban and eight government forces injured.

The 1.6 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan do not want to return, given the insecurity and severe poverty of Afghanistan. Pakistan has repeatedly extended the deadline for their repatriation, which is now December, 2015.

War News for Saturday, November 09, 2013

Soldier Liam Culverhouse wounded in Afghanistan admits killing his toddler daughter

Retired Abita Springs Army sergeant wounded in Afghanistan to march in NYC Veterans Day parade

Militant's Killing Threatens NATO Supply Route

British Marine guilty of Afghan captive's murder faces life in jail

Two admirals face probe in Navy bribery scheme -- Seems to only be the tip on the iceberg here, but it’s a good start. – whisker

Reported security incidents
#1: Gunmen opened fire Saturday on two trucks carrying Nato vehicles in troubled northwestern Khyber tribal agency near the Afghan border, wounding two drivers.

#2: According to reports, Taliban militants have kidnapped four Afghan intelligence operatives in eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan. The intelligence operatives were reportedly kidnapped in Moqor district and the footage of the kidnapped operatives has been broadcasted by Taliban group.

War News for Friday, November 08, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: update: A British soldier was killed and five others injured by a suicide car bomber who rammed a Toyota Corolla packed with explosives into a troop convoy in Helmand province on Tuesday, British and Afghan officials have said. Three Afghan civil order police were also injured in the attack, a spokesman for the Helmand police chief said.

#2: Cleaner of a Nato container was injured when the vehicle was fired at by unidentified gunmen in Jamrud on Thursday. Khasadar officials said that the incident took place on the by-pass road where a container carrying unspecified goods for Nato forces was on its way to Afghanistan via Khyber Pass.

#3: At least five Afghan intelligence – National Directorate of Security (NDS) operatives were killed or injured following a roadside bomb blast in easter Khost province of Afghanistan on Thursday.

War News for Thursday, November 07, 2013

Reported security incidents
#1: As per details, unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate fire at a tanker carrying fuel for Nato forces stationed in Afghanistan, at Baghbana area of Khuzdar district. Resultantly, the driver identified as Ishaaq Khan was killed and his helper sustained serious injuries in the attack. The attackers also torched the tanker before fleeing the area. The tanker caught fire and thousands of litter of fuel was destroyed.

#2: Separately, assailants shot dead Balochistan National Party-Awami leader Sardar Taihab Zehri’s brother in Khuzdar district. Police said that Haji Abdul Rauf Zehri was attacked by unknown armed men who managed to flee from scene after committing the crime.

#3: In another incident, a woman and her three children were wounded in a landmine blast in Dera Bugti district.  The woman and her three children were on their way in Pirkoh area when one of them stepped on a landmine that exploded, wounding woman and her children.

#4: At least two civilians were wounded when they overrun a roadside mine in southern province of Kandahar, the governor office said Thursday.

#5: National Directorate of Security (NDS) operatives were killed or injured following a roadside bomb blast in easter Khost province of Afghanistan on Thursday. Provincial governor spokesman, Baryalai Rawan confirming the report said the incident took place in Khost city on Thursday afternoon after a vehicle of the Afghan NDS operatives struck with a roadside bomb.

MoD: Warrant Officer Class 2 Ian Fisher

War News for Wednesday, November 06, 2013

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from a vehicle borne suicide attack in the Kamparak area in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, November 5th.

Reported security incidents
#1: Seven dead bodies have been found on the outskirts of Qalat, the capital of Afghanistan's southern Zabul Province. The security chief of Zabul Province, Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Lewany, said the seven men are believed to be civilians killed by the Taliban on suspicion of cooperating with the government. Other reports, however, say the seven may be National Afghan Army soldiers who disappeared while traveling from southern Kandahar Province to their homes in neighboring Zabul a week ago.

#2: Unidentified assailants have killed Musa Nuri, a prosecutor of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, and his driver, Trend reports.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/11/06/5885262/afghan-police-find-bodies-of-7.html#storylink=cpy

#3: An explosion destroyed the vehicle of Kunduz governor’s guards had no human casualties.
 #4: Seven militants were killed in Afghan police cleanup operations since early Tuesday, the country's Interior Ministry said Wednesday. "Afghan National Police (ANP) conducted several joint clearance operations with the cooperation of Afghan National Army, Afghan intelligence agency and Coalition Forces in Kandahar, Wardak and Paktika provinces. As a result, seven armed Taliban were killed and 21 others were arrested," the ministry said in statement providing daily operational updates.

War News for Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Pakistan urged to maintain supplies

Pakistan army shows its anti-drone technology   


Reported security incidents
#1: At least four people were killed Tuesday when a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into an Afghan security checkpost near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border-crossing at Chaman, Afghan police said. The explosion occurred near Wesh Mandi area on the Afghan side of the border, injuring over a dozen other people, Afghan police officials said.

#2: Three attackers who torched two NATO oil tankers earlier Monday have been killed in a shootout with paramilitary troops near Jandan area of Sibbi, a city of Baluchistan province.

#3: Afghan National Army Special Forces (ANA-SF) led an Afghan National Security Force patrol in Achin district, eastern Nangarhar province, killing six insurgents in a gunfight, the alliance said Tuesday.

#4: Fourteen militants were killed and 53 others arrested as Afghan police launched cleanup operations in different provinces within the day, the country's Interior Ministry said Tuesday.


DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Forrest W. Robertson

War News for Monday, November 04, 2013

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a small arms weapon attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, November 3rd.

As U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan, poppy trade it spent billions fighting still flourishes

Family: Tenn. man killed after shooting at police suffered from PTSD


Reported security incidents
#1: Suspected militants hurled grenades at a tribal meeting in northwest Pakistan Sunday, killing at least four Shia Muslims and wounding two others in an apparent sectarian attack, officials said.

#2: Seventeen Taliban militants have been killed, 10 others have surrendered in two days of counter- insurgency operations, and three employees of the government- backed election commission sustained injuries over the past two days in conflict-ridden Afghanistan, officials said Monday.

#3: However, a mine planted by anti-government militants, presumably by Taliban militants struck a vehicle of the election commission on Sunday in Ghor province with Cheghcheran as its capital, 360 km west of Kabul, injuring three workers of the election body.

News of the Day for Sunday, November 3, 2013

NATO says a "foreign soldier" has been killed in Afghanistan but gives no other information. This AP story also reports two Afghan police officers shot dead in separate incidents, one in Uruzgan, the other in Kandahar city.

Three Afghan police are killed and one injured in an explosion in a mosque in Paktika province.

Afghan security forces seize a truck carrying 50 tons of TNT in Paktia, according to the National Directorate of Security. (That's a lot! BTW, no typo. Paktika and Paktia both exist, and are neighbors. We hear about Paktika more often because it's larger, and has a troublesome border with Pakistan.)

Azam Ahmed reports for the NYT on Afghanistan's horrific epidemic of opioid addiction. "The number of drug users in Afghanistan is estimated to be as high as 1.6 million, or about 5.3 percent of the population, among the highest rates in the world. Nationwide, one in 10 urban households has at least one drug user, according to a recent report from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. In the city of Herat, it is one in five."

Pakistan Interior Minister says assassination of Hakimullah Mehsud by U.S. drone has scuttled ongoing peace talks.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar condemned the US strike as a "drone attack on the peace process", saying a team of religious clerics was about to meet the TTP with a view to starting peace talks when Mehsud was killed. "Brick by brick in the last seven weeks we tried to evolve a process by which we could bring peace to Pakistan and what have you (the US) done?" he said. "You have scuttled it on the eve, 18 hours before a formal delegation of respected ulema (religious scholars) was to fly to Miranshah and hand over this formal invitation."

A Pakistani woman is injured by a shell fired from Afghanistan. Bajaur Agency, where this occurred, is a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, and has been the site of numerous drone strikes by the U.S., including one targeting Ayman al-Zawahiri, who it turned out was not present. Fighting between militants and Pakistani government forces in the region has displaced thousands of civilians, although many are now returning home.

 

War News for Saturday, November 02, 2013

Pakistan on high alert after Taliban leader killed by US drone strike

US-led soldier dies in eastern Afghanistan: ISAF

How the Pakistani Taliban Became a Deadly Force


Reported security incidents
#1: Local residents told AFP that dozens of tribesmen and militants had opened fire on a US drone which was flying low in the same area where the Taliban chief was killed. “Tribesmen and militants were firing with light and heavy guns for an hour,” Tariq Khan, a shopkeeper in Miranshah told AFP.

#2: Afghan police backed by the army have killed 17 Taliban fighters during series of operations across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Saturday. According to the statement, the operations were carried out in Ghor, Farah, Herat, Paktiya, Khost, Maidan Wardak, Uruzgan, Zabul, Kandahar, Balkh, Parwan and Nangarhar provinces

#3: According to reports, a suicide bomber was shot dead by Afghan security forces in eastern Khost province of Afghanistan on Saturday morning.

War News for Friday, November 01, 2013

Missing containers, missing weapons?

Analysis: Drone discrepancy


Reported security incidents
#1: Eleven people were wounded overnight when a bomb went off in northern Afghanistan's Baghlan province during a wedding party, sources said on Friday. "A wedding party was underway in Baghlan-e-Markazi district Thursday night. An improvised explosive device (IED) placed under the tent where people were celebrating the party was detonated, injuring 11 people," the district governor Gohar Shah Babori told Xinhua.

#2: Unknown miscreants attacked a security forces camp with rockets here on Friday but no loss was reported. According to military sources, three rockets fired from unknown location landed at a security forces camp in Miranshah, the tribal headquarter of North Waziristan Agency (NWA). However, no damages or causalities were reported as the rockets fell in the vacant space of the camp.

#3: One dozen militants, including a Taliban shadow district governor, were killed in an Afghan army overnight operation in the country's eastern province of Ghazni, said a source on Friday.

#4: At least five kids were killed or injured following a mortar shell explosion in central Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan.