War News for Friday, June 26, 2009

NATO is reporting the deaths of three ISAF soldiers in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, June 25th. CJTF - 82 has confirmed this to be an American soldier.


Filipino workers for US Army in Iraq die without benefits:

Rising toll at US military hospital in Afghanistan:

NATO to start offensive soon in south Afghanistan:

Afghanistan Strategy: (An interesting commentary)

German Deaths Push Afghan War to the Fore for Chancellor:

Premier Casting U.S. Withdrawal as Victory for Iraq:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A booby-trapped motorcycle loaded with nails and ball-bearings exploded in a crowded bazaar Friday in Baghdad, killing at least 15 people, Iraqi officials said. The explosion occurred just after 9 a.m. when the market was packed with young people buying or selling motorcycles in central Baghdad, according to police and hospital officials. Police and hospital officials, who gave the death toll on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said more than 50 people also were wounded.

#2: Three civilians on Thursday were injured when a sticky explosive charge hit a bus they were traveling in in Baghdad, according to an Interior Ministry source. “A sticky improvised explosive device (IED) placed inside a Kia-modeled bus detonated in al-Aamel neighborhood, southwestern Baghdad, wounding three civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Al-Quds (Jerusalem) gas driven power station northeastern Baghdad was attacked with two rockets that caused damages to the plant, the official spokesperson of the Iraqi Electricity Ministry said Thursday. “The attack took place yesterday (Wednesday June 24, 2009),” Aziz al-Shemmary told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The station’s engineering staff was able to repair the damages,’ he added.

#4: Thursday Four civilians were injured when three mortar shells hit Abo Nowas Street in downtown Baghdad around 9 p.m.

#5: A roadside bomb wounded two civilians in Baghdad's eastern Ur district on Thursday, police said.


Diwaniya:
#1: Twenty suspects on Thursday were arrested during a wide-scale security operation following a failed attempt to kill a Sadrist leader in Diwaniya province, according to a local police source. “Emergency police forces conducted search raids in the province following an attempt to assassinate a tribal affairs official in Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s office, Sheikh Hamid al-Saeedi,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Yesterday (June 24) evening, unknown gunmen opened fire on Saeedi in front of his house in the province, wounding him seriously.


Kut:
#1: Three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on Thursday were defused by the bomb squad in downtown Kut city, according to a local security source. “The National Information and Investigations Agency defused three IEDs, weighing 15 kg each, inside a deserted house in al-Hayakel area, downtown Kut,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Nassiriya:
#1: Four Katyusha rockets were seized and a fake bomb was defused in two separate incidents in northern Nassiriya, the Thi-Qar police said in a statement on Friday. “Police forces managed to seize four Katyusha rockets near al-Muhajreen village in north of Nassiriya,” said the statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Explosive experts of al-Refaee police defused a fake bomb planted in al-Refaee district, north of Nassiriya,” it added.


Mosul:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Thursday killed a 16-year-old boy in Ninewa’s Mosul city, according to a local police source. “The boy was shot down in al-Muharibeen neighborhood, eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: One Iraqi soldier on Thursday was killed and 13 other army personnel were wounded when a car bomb detonated in northern Mosul city, according to a security source. “A car rigged with explosives went off near an Iraqi army patrol vehicle in al-Arabi neighborhood, northern Mosul, killing one serviceman and injuring 13 others, including four patrolmen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The wounded included a major and a lieutenant, the source noted.

#3: An insurgent died while he was planting a roadside bomb in Rifa'i area in Mosul city om Thursday afternoon.

#4: A roadside bomb killed an Iraqi soldier and wounded two others when it struck their convoy in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#5: Gunmen wearing military uniforms attacked a convoy carrying a senior criminal judge in Mosul on Thursday, wounding one of his bodyguards, police said. The judge was not hurt.


Al Anbar Prv:
Fallujah:
#1: Two policemen on Thursday were injured in an armed attack on a police checkpoint in southern Falluja city, according to a local security source. “The checkpoint was set up in Asdaan village, southern Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The two personnel were injured during an exchange of gunfire with the gunmen,” the source noted, adding that the wounded were taken to the Falluja Public Hospital for treatment.

#2: A police commander on Thursday was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Anbar province, according to a local police source. “The device targeted the vehicle of Captain Aaref al-Jinabi in al-Fuhaylat village, southern Falluja, killing him on the spot,” Maj. Yasseen Ismail told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The source did not provide further details.

Five policemen were killed including an officer when a roadside bomb detonated targeting their patrol in Shamiyah area west of Baghdad around 7 p.m.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up near an army vehicle Friday, killing at least two soldiers in the first such assault in Pakistan's part of divided Kashmir, marking an escalation in the militant campaign against security forces. The military said in a statement that three other soldiers were wounded in the early morning bombing in Muzaffarabad, the region's capital, and rushed to a nearby hospital.

#2: Also Friday, a roadside bomb exploded near a military convoy near Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, killing three soldiers and one passer-by, two local intelligence officials said. Fifteen soldiers and two civilians were also injured in the blast. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

#3: Three Afghan civilians were killed and two others were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their car in southern Gireshk district, the Interior Ministry said.

#4: A powerful explosion took place in southwestern Pakistan's Balochistan province on Friday and the train services in the area were suspended, official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported. Train service between Quetta, capital city of Balochistan province, and other parts of the country was suspended after unknown miscreants blew up the railway track in Mach town. Miscreants strapped explosive materials with the track in the outskirts of Mach town which damaged some track.

#5: A big explosion on Friday afternoon rocked a vegetable market in Khost city, provincial capital of Khost in eastern Afghanistan, and casualties are feared, police said.