War News for Friday, November 07, 2008

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Coalition force Soldier of non-combat related causes in Kirkuk Province on Thursday, November 6th.


Nov. 4 airpower summary:

Bulgaria withdraws from Iraq, Defence Minister says:

U.S. issues final Iraq security offer:

Obama Victory Alters the Tenor of Iraqi Politics:

Georgia Claims on Russia War Called Into Question:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A civilian was killed and six others were injured when a roadside bomb detonated on Friday afternoon outside a house in the al-Jami'a neighborhood, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. An Iraqi police patrol headed immediately to the neighborhood but another roadside bomb struck one of its vehicles while approaching the scene. The vehicle was damaged and three policemen aboard wounded, the source said.

A roadside bomb was placed just outside the house of Haider Hassoon who has been previously displaced and had just returned to his home in Jamia neighbourhood, west Baghdad. It detonated just as he left his house at 12.30 p.m. Friday killing him outright, injuring six civilian passers by. A police patrol headed for the site of the explosion was targeted by another bomb that injured three policemen and destroyed their vehicle.

#2: Two people were killed and seven others wounded when a roadside bomb attached to a taxi cab went off at al-Dora neighborhood, southern Baghdad, an Iraqi police source said on Friday. “Two persons were inside the car,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq. “The bomb went off near an Iraqi army checkpoint,” he added.


Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: A Sahwa fighter was killed and four others were wounded in a bomb explosion in north of Baaquba city on Friday, a security source said. “An improvised explosive device went off in the main street in al-Azeem region in Khalis district, north of Baaquba, targeting Sahwa fighters’ vehicle, killing one and injuring four,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq. “One of the wounded men remains in critical condition,” he added, without giving more details.

A roadside bomb targeted a minibus transporting Sahwa members in al-Atheim area, 15 km to the north of Baquba at 11.30 a.m. Friday killing two Sahwa members and injuring five others.


Hawija:
#1: An IED exploded in al-Askari neighbourhood, Hawija district at 10.45 p.m. Thursday in front of the house of a civilian causing material damages to the house. The Sahwa forces found and defused another IED in the same neighbourhood at 10.50 p.m.


Al Anbar Prv:
Karmah:
#1: American losses listed that day (thursday) included two U.S. soldiers wounded in a roadside bomb attack near the town of Karmah west of Baghdad as they responded to reports of a bomb in the area, the U.S. military said.



Afghanistan:
#1: A suspected U.S. missile strike killed at least 13 people near the Afghan border Friday, security officials said, the latest in a surge of attacks that a top American general said has eliminated three militant leaders. The strikes are likely to trigger fresh anger from Pakistan's civil and military leaders, who say they undercut support for their anti-terror efforts, and from many of its 170 million people. The suspected cross-border attack took place in Kam Sam village in North Waziristan region, a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaida militants blamed for attacks on U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan and rising attacks within Pakistan. A Pakistani intelligence official said an agent who visited the village reported that 13 suspected militants had died.

#2: A Dutch journalist kidnapped by suspected Taliban rebels in Afghanistan a week ago was freed Friday and is in good health, her employer said. The woman, whose name was not released, was captured on Saturday last week while she was en route to do a story about a group of Taliban who had killed 10 French soldiers in August, an editor at the Belgian P-magazine told AFP.

War News for Thursday, November 06, 2008

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Center soldier of non-combat related causes in an undisclosed location in Iraq on Wednesday, November 5th.


Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline shut down by explosion:

US decides to bring troops home early from Iraq: The US contingent will be reduced to 14 combat brigades this month...

Airstrikes in Afghanistan increase 31%

New Iranian naval base threatens Persian Gulf:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: The deadliest attack Thursday came near a checkpoint in central Baghdad when two bombs exploded during the morning rush hour, police said. Four people were killed and seven wounded in the blasts. The twin blasts in the capital's Sunni enclave of Sheik Omar happened at a checkpoint manned by members of an Awakening Council, the mostly Sunni groups that have joined forces with the Americans against al-Qaida in Iraq.

#2: Another bomb targeting a government convoy injured six people, police and hospital officials said. Police said the convoy was carrying city workers. The police spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release information.

#3: Another two Awakening Council members was killed in a bombing just before noon in southeastern Baghdad. The councils come under frequent attacks by insurgents because they have sided with U.S. forces.

#4: Roadside bombs targeting two separate convoys carrying Baghdad city officials injured eight people, the mayor's office said in a statement. The municipal officials were not hurt in the attacks.

Also Thursday, a roadside bomb targeting a government pick-up truck in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr city injured nine people including five city employees, police said.

#5: Nine other people were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad's sprawling Shiite slum of Sadr City, police said.

#6: Another roadside bomb detonated near the Al-Gailani mosque in Baghdad's central Baba Alsheikh neighbourhood, killing one person and injuring four others, police said.

#7: Around 1 pm a roadside bomb targeted an American patrol in Boub Al-Sham neighborhood (north Baghdad). No casualties reported.


Muthanna Prv:
#1: Police forces on Thursday managed to defuse an anti-shields bomb found inside the Muthanna health department, a police source said. “Anti-bomb squads defused an explosive charge placed in the Muthanna health department near the office of the director,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.


Kut:
#1: A female university student on Thursday was shot as she left campus in downtown Kut city, according to a local police source. “On Thursday, a student of the Faculty of Education, Wassit University, was shot and taken to al-Karama Hospital in Kut for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.


Hawija:
#1: U.S. soldiers killed one man in an operation targeting al Qaeda near Hawija, 210 km (130 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.


Kurkuk:
#1: Also Thursday, in the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, police found the bullet-riddled body of a man believed to be in his late 40s.


Mosul:
#1: Police found the body of a woman shot in neck and chest in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, on Wednesday, police said.

#2: A U.S. helicopter killed two suspected al-Qaeda militants as their aircraft come under fire in an area northwest of Mosul on Wednesday, the U.S. military said in a statement.



Afghanistan:
#1: An explosion ripped through a meeting of pro-government tribesmen in Pakistan's remote region along the border with Afghanistan on Thursday, leaving three people killed and more than 45 others injured, media reports said. The blast took place when around 200 people from Salarzai tribe were holding a meeting to plan action against Taliban militants in Batmale village, some 50 kilometres from Khar, the main town of Bajaur tribal district, reported dpa. Urdu-language Aaj news channel reported while citing official sources that the death toll was feared to rise as many of the wounded were in critical condition.

#2: Afghan officials says a coalition airstrike in northwestern Afghanistan has killed 13 Taliban militants and seven civilians. Deputy governor Abdul Ghani Saburi of Badghis province says the airstrike hit a house in Ghormach district early Thursday. A spokesman for the U.S. forces in Afghanistan says they are aware of possible civilian casualties following an insurgent ambush in the area. Saburi says a three-hour-long clash between militants and Afghan and foreign troops preceded the airstrike.

#3: Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF)and the U.S.-led Coalition forces on Tuesday killed eight insurgents during a combat patrol in southern Afghan province of Uruzgan, said a Coalition statement issued here on Thursday. The joint patrol was headed toward a village to provide medical and humanitarian assistance to villagers in the Khas Uruzgan district when insurgents attacked the patrol with small-arms fire, machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades from fighting positions near the road, the statement said. "ANSF and Coalition forces returned fire killing eight insurgents," it said.


Casualty Reports:

Army Spec. Matt Lavoie has been undergoing a series of operations at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., since he was wounded by a roadside bomb in late September."He has had 10 surgeries to try to save his right arm," said Carrie Tonon, a friend of Lavoie's family.

War News for Wednesday, November 05, 2008

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier during a small arms fire attack in the Musa Qaleh area of Helmand province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, November 4th. No other details were released. Here's the ISAF statement.


Nov. 3 airpower summary:

Iran warns U.S. not to violate Iranian airspace:

Russia to station missiles near Poland: (Iskander SS-21 / Scarab/Tochka
Iskander E (SS-26 Stone))



Baghdad:
#1: Anti-bomb squad on Wednesday defused a bomb planted in central Baghdad, a security source said. “Anti-bomb squad defused the bomb planted in Abu Nawas street in central Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.“The operation ended without casualties,” he said.

#2: An improvised bomb exploded Tuesday near the car of an Iraqi official, missing him but killing two people and injuring several others, police said. It was the latest in a series of apparent assassination attempts against Iraqi authorities. The attack on Ahmed Shyaa al-Barak, head of a government property and claims office, occurred amid bombing and shooting attacks in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul that left nine people dead and dozens injured.

#3: Also on Tuesday, an explosive device also went off under a police commander's car in the Karrada neighborhood, killing him and wounding two other officers, police said.

#4: Two roadside bombs exploded in a market in the Qahira neighborhood in northern Baghdad, killing at least one person and wounding nine, police said.

#5: In eastern Baghdad, an improvised explosive device blew up in a parking garage in the neighborhood of Mashtal, killing at least four people and injuring 17, police said.

#6: A booby-trapped car exploded in another parking garage near Baghdad Technology University in central Baghdad, killing one civilian and injuring five, police said.

#7: A car bomb near a checkpoint on the road to Baghdad's airport killed four people and wounded nine on Wednesday, police said. Two policemen were among the dead and three policemen were among the wounded in the blast, which took place by a statue near a major checkpoint outside the heavily guarded airport, police said.


Amarra:
#1: A policeman was killed and three more were wounded in a bomb explosion in central Amara, a security source said. “An improvised explosive device went off near the police station in central Amara, killing a policeman and injuring three,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

The deputy chief of the Missan police on Wednesday survived an attempt on his life, while a policeman was killed and four more were wounded in a bomb blast in central Amara, a security source said. “An explosive charge went off targeting the motorcade of Colonel Sadeq Abdul Aziem, killing a cop and injuring four,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq, noting that the deputy chief of police survived. A security source had said earlier a policeman was killed and three more were wounded in a bomb explosion in central Amara.

#2: The executive director of the Sadr office in Missan said on Wednesday that unknown gunmen stormed the office and locked up the staff in a room. “Four gunmen stormed the Sadr office in Awasha region in central Amara and confined the office’s staffs in a room and set the special office of the social committee on fire,” Sheikh Hadi al-Fridawi told Aswat al-Iraq.


Numaniya:
#1: An armed group kidnapped a girl in north of Kut and took her to unknown place, a police source said on Wednesday.“Unknown gunmen kidnapped a girl in central Nuaamaniya district in north of Kut and took her to unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.


Riyadh:
#1: Police found two dead bodies (man and woman) in Riyadh town (west of Kirkuk) on Tuesday night.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two bodies of a young man and a woman were found by police forces in southwest of Kirkuk, a police source said on Wednesday. “The bodies were found on late Tuesday in Mezher al-Aasi village in Riyadh district, southwest of Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.


Mosul:
#1: In eastern Mosul, gunmen shot dead a policeman in a prison for political detainees, a police source said.

#2: Another policeman was also killed by gunmen in al-Shefaa district in western Mosul. Mosul is located some 405 kilometres north of Baghdad.



Afghanistan:
#1: An Afghan villager at the scene of an apparent U.S. bombing says 23 children and 10 women attending a wedding party are among 37 Afghans killed during a U.S. fight with the Taliban. Kandahar province villager Abdul Jalil says he was hosting a wedding party for his niece when Taliban militants fighting U.S. forces took cover near his home. Jalil says 37 people were killed when U.S. warplanes later bombed the wedding party.

#2: Three children were killed and six injured when an old shell they were playing with exploded in Kabul on Wednesday, a source in the republic's interior ministry said.

#3: Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) backed by the U.S. -led Coalition forces have killed five insurgents during a combat security patrol in southern Afghan province of Helmand, said a Coalition statement received here on Wednesday. Insurgents engaged the combined patrol with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in Nahr Surkh district of Helmand on Nov. 3, the statement said. The combined forces returned fire killing five, and "no ANSF, Coalition forces or civilians casualties were reported," it said.

#4: A roadside bomb killed four police when the device hit their vehicle in Logar province, 80 km (50 miles) south of Kabul, on Tuesday, a provincial official said.

#5: A rocket attack killed two civilians and wounded three more in a residential area in eastern Kabul overnight, a police official said. One civilian was killed and four wounded when an old bomb exploded in western Kabul, the official said.

War News for Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Oct. 31 airpower summary:

Nov. 1 airpower summary:

Nov. 2 airpower summary:

Commuter rail trains running in Baghdad to relieve traffic jams:

Mideast weather roundup:

Twin bombs wound 73 in Muslim southern Thailand:

Afghan officials aided July attack on U.S. soldiers:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen killed one policeman and wounded three others when they opened fire in the Ghadir district of eastern Baghdad, police said.

#2: A policeman was wounded when a bomb, which had been planted on his car, exploded, also wounding his two children in the Karrada district of central Baghdad, police said.

“An IED attached to the vehicle of the Baghdad police chief’s secretary, Maj. Ali Jameel, went off today, wounding him, one of his escorts and a civilian,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq, adding the explosion also caused severe damage to the vehicle. Earlier, an Iraqi police source said three civilians were wounded when an improvised explosive device ripped through central Baghdad in the morning.

#3: A bomb planted on a car killed one person and wounded five others in the Karrada district of central Baghdad, police said.

#4: In the first blast, seven people were killed and 18 were wounded around noon at a car park in the al-Mashtal area of eastern Baghdad.

Police say a bomb hidden under a car has exploded at a bus station in Baghdad, killing three people and wounding six others. A security official says one woman was among those killed in the attack in the Shiite-dominated neighborhood of Mashtal of the Iraqi capital.

#5: Later four people were killed and eight were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in the al-Qahira district of northern Baghdad, police said.

#6: Also Tuesday, one person died when a roadside bomb targeted the convoy of a Shiite government official and former member of the Iraqi Governing Council in central Baghdad. Ahmed Shiyaa al-Barak, who currently serves as the head of a government real estate commission, escaped the attack without injury. Five of his guards and four bystanders were injured in the bombing, police said.

#7: Around 12 p.m. an adhesive bomb that was stuck to a civilian car detonated near Ibn al Haitham hospital in Karrada neighborhood in downtown Baghdad. No casualties reported. The car was damaged.

#8: Around 12:15 p.m. a civilian was killed and five others were injured in al Sinaa Street in downtown Baghdad by an adhesive bomb that was stuck to a civilian car that belonged to a policeman.

#9: One bystander was killed and three were wounded in a shootout between Iraqi soldiers and gunmen in Baghdad's Sadr City neighbourhood near a memorial ceremony for anniversary of the death of a Shi'ite cleric, Baghdad security spokesman Qassim Moussawi said.


Tikrit:
#1: Two Iraqi civilians were killed following a traffic accient involving the U.S. military near Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

Elsewhere, the US military said one civilian died on the scene of a road accident with coalition troops near the city of Tikrit, 130km north of the capital. A second Iraqi died after being rushed to an aid station. Iraqi police said an American Humvee ran over four Iraqis while they were trying to hang a banner in the middle of a road, killing two and wounding two others.


Kirkuk:
#1: Iraqi security forces on Tuesday defused six missile launch pads in southwestern Kirkuk, a police source said. “Police forces defuse six missile launching pads in Wahed Huzayran region in southwestern Kirkuk after receiving a tip-off on their presence in the region,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq. “The operation ended without casualties,” he added.

#2: Around 11 a.m. a roadside bomb blew up near one of the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's party in the Nasr area in downtown Kirkuk. No casualties were reported.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen killed one man, wounding two of his brothers, on Monday in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A patrol of the Iraqi army found two unidentified bodies in al Sehaji area in west Mosul city. The bodies were shot in the head and the chest.

#2: In the northern city of Mosul, a suicide bomber rammed his car into a passing police patrol, injuring four officers, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb struck an army patrol, injuring an officer,

#4: and a policeman was injured when an unknown gunman opened fire on him.

One police officer on Tuesday was wounded when he came under armed men’s gunfire, according to a source from Ninewa police. “Unknown gunmen opened fire today targeting a lieutenant of the emergency police contingent while he was on vacation,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq. “The officer was wounded in the head. The gunmen escaped to an unknown place,” he said.

#5: Gunmen shot dead a policeman in western Mosul, police said.

#6: Five civilians were wounded by a roadside bomb attack in northern Mosul, police said.

#7: Gunmen shot dead a civilian in a drive-by in eastern Mosul, police said.

#8: Gunmen killed a civilian in a drive-by shooting in northern Mosul, police said.

#9: Two bodies were found in two different parts of Mosul, police said.

#10: One civilian was killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb targeting an Iraq Army patrol in eastern Mosul, police said.

#11: Gunmen killed an off-duty police officer in a drive-by shooting in eastern Mosul, police said.



Afghanistan:
#1: The deputy intelligence chief in Afghanistan's Kandahar province has been shot dead, authorities said Tuesday. Azizullah, who like many Afghans went by one name, was shot at 6 p.m. (0630 GMT) Monday by gunmen on a motorbike in the city of Kandahar, capital of the province of the same name, said Abdul Qayoom Katawazi, head of intelligence in Kandahar. The province's police chief, Matiullah Qaneh, said Azizullah was killed while going home from his office.

#2: A suicide bomber killed a Pakistani soldier and wounded nine Tuesday, highlighting the growing militant threat a day after the top U.S. commander in the region held security talks with Pakistani leaders. The attack on a paramilitary post in the northwestern town of Doaba was the latest in an intensifying campaign by Islamist militants that has raised fears for Pakistan, a nuclear-armed U.S. ally also facing an economic crisis. Doaba police official Omar Faraz Khattack said initially the soldiers were wounded: "One of them died on the way to hospital and one is seriously wounded."

#3: Warplanes hit militant positions in the Bajaur region on Tuesday but there was no word on casualties, a military official said.

#4: Two rockets landed near the runway at the airport in the northwestern city of Peshawar late Monday but caused no damage.

War News for Monday, November 03, 2008

Photo: Syrian protesters gather at Youssef al-Azmi square during a demonstration against the U.S. raid on a village near the Syrian-Iraqi border last Monday, in Damascus, Syria, Thursday Oct. 30, 2008. Hundreds of Syrian riot police ringed the shuttered and closed U.S. Embassy in Damascus on Thursday, as tens of thousands of Syrians converged on a central square for a government-orchestrated protest to denounce a deadly U.S. raid near the Iraqi border.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)


CJTF - 101 is reporting the death of a U.S. coalition soldier in a small arms fire attack in an eastern province of Afghanistan on Monday, November 3rd. No other details were released.


Army revamps procedure to screen injured soldiers:

Pakistan warns Petraeus against missile strikes:

Petraeus visits Pakistan as it fights "for survival"

US embassy in Damascus closes as Syrians demonstrate:

Another success? Iraqi mayor Bush once hailed flees to U.S.: (A story about the mayor of Tal Afar)

US still the villain in Iraq's former rebel bastion:

Official: 9 separatist rebels killed in S Philippines clash:

Sri Lanka war flares with air, sea battles:

Iraqi Kurd says US can have bases in northern Iraq: report:



Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: The six people died when two bombs, one of them hidden in a trash can exploded in Tahariyat square in central Baghdad during the morning rush hour. Police said 21 people were wounded, including 10 policemen and two women. The explosions caused extensive damage to shops lining the square in the predominantly Shiite eastern side of Baghdad.

#2: Also Monday, Abdul-Sahib Salman Qutub, one of three senior undersecretaries in the Oil Ministry, suffered minor injuries when a bomb went off at his house as he left for work, ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said. Jihad said Qutub's driver was seriously injured in the attack.

#3: Another bomb exploded around noon near a police patrol in west Baghdad, injuring one policeman and a civilian, police said.

#4: “A sticky IED placed inside a civilian vehicle went off on al-Qanah street, eastern Baghdad, leaving two civilians wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

#5: “Another sticky charge went off shortly after the first one inside another civilian vehicle on Palastine street, also eastern Baghdad, wounding three people,” the source added.

#6: A bomb attached to a car wounded the driver and one passer by in Zayouna district in eastern Baghdad, police said.

#7: A gunman opened fire using a silencer on a man, killing him instantly in Zafaraniyah neighborhood (east Baghdad).

#8: A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol in Raghiba Khatoon neighborhood (north Baghdad). Six people were wounded including three policemen.

#9: Police found one dead body in Habibiyah neighborhood in Risfa bank in Baghdad today.


Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: In Baqouba, some 35 miles northeast of the capital, a car bomb exploded in a parking lot across the street from the Diyala provincial council headquarters, killing one policeman, authorities said. Eight people — five of them policemen — were wounded in the blast, which occurred as a conference on protecting Iraqi journalists took place inside the building. None of the meeting's participants were injured in the attack.

Khanaqin:
#1: Three women of the same family were killed by an armed group suspected of belonging to al-Qaeda network northeast of Baaquba on Monday, a police source in Diala said. “A group of suspected members of al-Qaeda raided a house in al-Saadiya district, Khanaqin, (155 km) northeast of Baaquba, and killed three women of the same family,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq, not giving any details about the motives.

Buhriz:
#1: A roadside bomb killed one member of U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol and five of his family, including two women and three children, when it struck their vehicle on Sunday in Buhriz, 60 km (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

Saadiya:
#1: Police found the bodies of two women who had been kidnapped from their house earlier on Monday in Saadiya, 110 km (70 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.


Kut:
#1: The U.S. military base in western Kut was attacked by unidentified gunmen using Katyusha rockets on Monday, with no reports of casualties, a police source said.“Four rockets hit the U.S. Delta base in western Kut this evening,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.


Amarra:
#1: Policemen on Monday defused two bombs in central Amara city, a senior police officer said. “An anti-bomb squad managed to defuse the two bombs in central Amara,” Colonel Sadeq Islam told Aswat al-Iraq. “The bombs are a cannonball (130mm) and a mortar shell (120 mm),” he noted.


Hawija:
#1: “The forces also defused a bomb, planted near the main road in al-Uyoon village in al-Abbassi district, south of al-Howaiyja,” he added.


Ninewa Prv:
Mosul:
#1: Iraqi soldiers found two bodies with gunshot wounds in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Gunmen killed a tribal sheikh, spraying his car with bullets in western Mosul, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi army patrol in the 17th of July neighborhood in Mosul city. Two people were injured.

#4: A roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi army patrol in the Intisar neighborhood downtown Mosul city. Two soldiers were killed and two others were wounded.

Baaj
#1: A civilian man and his wife of Yazidi faith were strangled to death by unidentified persons west of Mosul, a security source from the Ninewa police department said on Monday. “A Yazidi coule were killed last night inside their home in al-Jazeera compound in al-Bijaaj district, west of Mosul, by unknown persons who strangled them to death,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.


Al Anbar Prv:
Ratba:
#1: Police found four bodies with gunshot wounds on Sunday in a desert area near the town of Rutba, 360 km (225 miles) west of Bagdad, police said.



Afghanistan:
#1: Three assailants in a red Corolla tried to kidnap two French citizens riding in a small van in Kabul, but after a scuffle they got away with only one, said Mohammad Daud Amin, a police commander in the neighborhood where the abduction took place. "A resident tried to prevent this kidnapping. A kidnapper opened fire and killed him. They were able to kidnap one Frenchman," Amin told The Associated Press. The Interior Ministry identified the resident as the driver for the intelligence chief of Panjshir province. Etienne Gille, president of AFRANE, a French aid group focusing on education, said the kidnapping took place as a member of its staff and a man from a second French aid group were being driven from a residence rented by ARFANE to its offices.

#2: Four Islamic militants were killed by Pakistani troops Monday as the new commander of US forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, General David Petraeus, held talks with the Pakistani leadership, officials said. The militants were killed when security forces started pounding insurgent positions Sunday night in the Mamoond and Chahrmang areas of the Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan with artillery fire and the operation continued until Monday morning. "According to information gathered from local sources, at least four Taliban militants were killed and numerous injured," a security official said.

#3: Meanwhile, gunmen seized an Afghan national, Akhtar Kohistani, Sunday in the North-West Frontier Province's Darosh district, 80 kilometres south of Chitral, the region's main town. Local police officials said the captive was associated with the United Nations Development Programme in Afghanistan. Darosh police chief Sher Akbar said a group of armed men seized Kohistani at his father-in-law's house. There was no official confirmation from UN officials in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

#4: An unmanned US drone crashed in southern Afghanistan on Sunday. The cause of the crash of the MQ-1 Predator drone was not known, a US military statement said. "The aircraft is a medium-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft. The MQ-1's primary mission is conducting armed reconnaissance," the statement said, adding that the military would investigate the incident.



Casualty Reports:

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch--the rocket-propelled grenade that, 12 months later, nearly killed Popaditch during a fight in Fallouja. He lost his right eye and 92% of the vision in his left. He has had several operations to remove shrapnel from his head, nose and eye, although he had to wage a months-long battle against military bureaucracy to get proper benefits. There is video on the Internet of the moment of his injury -- of a bloody and semiconscious Popaditch being pulled from his burning tank just after shards from the insurgent-fired RPG punctured his helmet and gouged out his eye. he had hopes of regaining full sight in his left eye. Now he is resigned to the notion that it will never improve beyond the 8%.

Canadian Cpl. Mark Fuchko, 24, who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan. It's been a long road back from Kandahar for Fuchko. On March 29, his vehicle rolled over an improvised explosive device. "I initially broke my legs so badly they had to amputate them. I ended up losing them in Germany," Fuchko said.

British Sgt Albert Thompson of the 1st Battalion of the Black Watch was hit in the leg in Iraq in 2003. He was forced to have his leg amputated below the knee and was awarded more than £1million in compensation. Initially the MoD blamed Cpt Tam Henderson, the gunner, and convicted him of negligence. He was later cleared on appeal. But an internal report - a Board of Inquiry - found that the "undemanded firing" of the gun had occurred at least six times between 1999 and 2004. It concluded that the gun "is unpopular with many service users primarily due to a perception of reliability issues". A Ministry of Defence investigation into the 7.62mm weapon, fitted to 800 vehicles, found that its perceived reliability was so bad that troops were fearful of using it.

British Andrew Allen, 19, who sustained multiple serious injuries in July when a Taliban booby-trap bomb exploded, is in England recovering from his wounds. The Royal Irish soldier who lost both of his legs in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Thomas Butler was wounded in a 2005 attack in Iraq, suffering injuries to his arm, legs and abdomen from a roadside bomb.

British Lance Corporal Martin Edwards, 26, was on his third tour of Iraq when he was wounded in October 2006, as his Warrior armoured vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Basra. The sniper-trained Light Infantry soldier was hit in the head by a piece of shrapnel which pierced his forehead and came out the other side, damaging his brain and leaving him disabled in his left arm and leg and with memory problems.

News of the Day for Sunday, November 2, 2008

Protesters hold placards as they chant anti-U.S. slogans during a rally against the U.S. strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghanistan border in Karachi November 1, 2008. U.S. missile strikes in northwest Pakistan killed up to 20 people on Friday, including a mid-level al Qaeda leader said to be an Iraqi, Pakistani officials said.
REUTERS/Athar Hussain (PAKISTAN) Just thought I'd remind our readers of the larger context -- C


Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

Police Captain killed, 3 police officers injured, in IED attack in al-Kamaliya neighborhood, eastern Baghdad. The explosion also damaged nearby stores.

IED attack on a police patrol near a popular restaurant causes no caualties.

IED attack on a police patrol on Salman Faeq street in Karda injures 1 police officer, 1 civilian.

VoI also reports an explosion in al-Mashtal, eastern Baghad, that injures 2 civilians. KUNA reports an explosion in Mashtal that kills two people, probably the same incident with an updated casualty toll.

Mosul

Explosion in Tammuz neighborhood, western Mosul, injures a child.

Reuters reports 3 additional attacks in Mosul on Saturday:

1. A suicide car bomb targeting a police patrol wounded one policeman


2. A roadside bomb wounded two Iraqi soldiers on patrol in eastern Mosul


3. Gunmen wounded one Iraqi soldier and one woman in an attack on military checkpoint in eastern Mosul

Hilla

Police find the body of a man bearing stab wounds.

Hawija

Roadside bomb injures 3 people, apparently all civilians.



Mansouriyat Al-Jabal region, Muqdadiyah (near Baquba)

Men wearing uniforms of Iraqi security forces invade the home of one Adnan Al-Azawi, kill 3 women and injure 3 others.

Other News of the Day

Iraq dispatches forces to the Syrian border region following the U.S. incursion into Syria. Excerpt from the AP report. (Note: Just to put this in perspective, Qaim is a town on the Euphrates about 15 miles from the Syrian border. The Syrian border with Iraq is more than 200 miles long.):

Police Col. Jubair Rashid Naief said a quick-reaction force moved to the border town of Qaim, about 200 miles from Baghdad, to keep al-Qaida fighters from coming from Syria.

Al-Arabiya television quoted witnesses as saying scores of armored vehicles were seen moving from Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Anbar province, to Qaim, which had been a major al-Qaida stronghold until Anbar's Sunni tribes turned against al-Qaida.

Iraq now expects U.S. reply to its latest proposal on the SOFA after the election. Will the Bush administration go along with Obama's position and agree to a timetable for withdrawal? We shall see.

Kurdistan President Massud Barzani tells a U.S. audience that Kurdistan will welcome U.S. bases if Iraq rejects them. Hmmm. Excerpt:

ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) – A top Iraqi Kurdish leader has said the US military could have bases in northern Iraq if Washington and Baghdad fail to sign the controversial security deal, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.

Massud Barzani, the president of northern Iraq's regional Kurdish administration, said that his government would "welcome" such a move, the Khabat, the newspaper run by Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party, quoted him as saying.

"All the attempts are going right now to sign the pact, but if the pact is not signed and if US asked to keep their troops in Kurdistan, I think the parliament, the people and government of Kurdistan will welcome this warmly," he said at the Centre of Strategy and International Study in Washington.

Iraqi refugees in Sweden go underground after a court ruling that the situation in Iraq does not constitute a "civil war" under the relevant statute, and all asylum seekers must demonstrate an individual risk of persecution.

The National, and English-language newspaper based in the UAE, reports on the economic situation in Kurdistan. According to this reporter, somewhat in contrast to the highly optimistic reports we hear about that region, Kurdistan is struggling to build a modern economy. The editors asked us for a plug so they won't mind the extensive quote.) Excerpt:

Twice in the past three years Bayar Mohammed, a 21-year-old university student from the northern region of Iraq known as Kurdistan, has hiked over the Mateen Mountains with a smuggler into Turkey in the hopes of sneaking into Europe and finding a better life. And twice he has been arrested by Turkish police in Istanbul and sent home.

“People all want to find a job in Europe,” he says, drinking tea in front of New City Mall, one of the few places for young people to get together in the capital city of Erbil. “There is no life in Kurdistan. There are no jobs, there isn’t anywhere to go, even to waste time.”

snip

His desire to leave his homeland is a testament to the challenges that the area faces in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s oppressive regime. For decades, the region was subjugated by Baathist forces and prevented from building even basic infrastructure. Now, the region has the trappings of autonomy: an army, a flag and the ability to run its own affairs while remaining a part of the Iraqi federal system. But despite oil revenues beginning to flow into the coffers, investments into its infrastructure and construction projects sprouting across the three governorates of Kurdistan, it is becoming clear that an economic struggle will be long and arduous. Dealing with corruption, a nearly non-existent banking system and underemployment have become the signature issues in Kurdistan.

When stability eventually spreads to the rest of Iraq, the region’s plight will serve as a forewarning of the economic difficulties the nation will face in the years to come.

Afghanistan Update

NATO forces open fire on an Afghan army patrol in Kunar, injuring 5. The defense ministry said the soldiers had been fetching water.

Brother of the Afghan Finance Minister is kidnapped in Peshawar, Pakistan. The victim, Zia ul-Haq Ahadi, was in Pakistan to visit his mother.

U.S. forces claim to have killed 19 militants in a series of operations in Nangarhar and Khost Provinces.

Police academy trainer assassinated in Kandahar.

Quote of the Day

I can't buy milk for them, so how can I buy schoolbooks? I want to give them more, but tell me how? It's more important for my children to beg so we can eat. What good will education do?

Iraqi widow Abeer Abdulrahman. McClatchy's Corinne Reilly reports that one fifth of Iraq's school age children are not in school.

War News for Saturday, November 01, 2008

Oct. 30 airpower summary:

Sri Lanka says 17 rebels killed in sea clash:

Turkey Blasts US Policy for Isolating Iran as Misguided Strategy:

Armored vehicle maker unveils new prototype:

CNN: 1 million flee Congo fighting, U.N. says:

Minister: Iran to cut oil production by 199,000 bpd:

Gates believes NATO won't send more troops:


Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb was discovered and later safely defused by the bomb squad in al-Bataween neighbourhood, central Baghdad at noon, Saturday.

#2: Also Saturday, unknown assailants gunned down a policeman on a foot patrol along Palestine Street in Shiite eastern Baghdad, police said.


Kut:
#1: One civilian was killed and his brother was wounded in an armed attack that occurred in western Kut city, a police source said on Saturday. “This morning, unknown gunmen opened fire on two brothers in al-Nasr neighborhood, western Kut, killing one and wounding the other,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

#2: Gunmen killed one policeman on Friday near his home just west of Kut, 150 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.


Basra:
#1: One child was killed and another was wounded when a landmine exploded in western Basra, the media office of the local police said. “On Friday evening, a landmine exploded in al-Shuayba square, western Basra, while children were playing in the place, killing one of them and wounding another,” the office told Aswat al-Iraq.


Kirkuk:
#1: A shepherd accidentally set off an unexploded mortar shell in al-Tarqiyah village, to the west of Kirkuk city, Friday. He was injured and taken for treatment.


Mosul:
#1: Two Iraqi servicemen were killed in an armed attack on an army checkpoint in northern Mosul city, according to the Multi-National Force (MNF). “Last night, unidentified gunmen launched an armed attack on a checkpoint set by the Iraqi army in al-Sukkar neighborhood, northern Mosul, killing two Iraqi soldiers,” read an MNF statement received by Aswat al-Iraq.
The statement did not provide further details.

#2: A source from Ninewa police said that an improvised explosive device (IED) went off on Friday near an Iraqi army patrol in al-Quds neighborhood, eastern Mosul, leaving three Iraqi soldiers and a civilian woman near the blast site wounded.

#3: Two civilians were killed when a U.S. warplane opened fire at their vehicle west of Mosul city on Saturday, a military source in Ninewa province said. “The U.S. aircraft targeted a civilian vehicle in northern Zammar district, (60 km) west of Mosul, killing two civilians on board,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.


Dohuk Prv:
#1: Turkish artillery heavily bombarded villages in Amidi district, to the northeast of Dohuk city, Friday spreading fear amongst the residents without causing any casualties.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Iraq sent police reinforcements Saturday to the Syrian border after last weekend's U.S. raid against an alleged al-Qaeda hideout in Syria raised tension between the two countries, officials said. Police Col. Jubair Rashid Naief said a police quick reaction force for Anbar province moved to the border town of Qaim, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, to prevent al-Qaeda from moving into the area from Syria. Al-Arabiya television quoted witnesses as saying scores of armored vehicles were seen moving from the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi to Qaim, which had been a major al-Qaeda stronghold until Anbar's Sunni tribes turned against al-Qaeda.



Afghanistan:
#1: Two soldiers from the US-trained Afghan national army were killed when a remote-controlled bomb blew up their vehicle in the southern province of Helmand, the Afghan defence ministry said in a statement. It blamed the attack, which wounded two other Afghan soldiers, on Taliban fighters. Six Taliban militants were killed in the same province a day earlier, the statement said.

#2: The US-led force announced separately that its soldiers had killed 19 militants in operations against the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Haqqani networks in Kunar and Khost provinces, both in the east. The operation in rugged Kunar was aimed at a "known Al-Qaeda leader," it said in a statement. Troops were fired at immediately as they began searching a compound and returned fire, killing two militants. As they continued, they were attacked again. "Coalition forces returned fire, killing five armed militants, one of whom was an armed female," the statement said.

#3: A second operation took place in the province of Khost, further south, and aimed at a militant with ties to Taliban and Haqqani networks. Two militants were killed in a vehicle as they reached for weapons, it said. The vehicle was found to contain explosives and destroyed.

#4: The US-led force also said in a statement that "Coalition forces killed 10 armed militants and detained two suspected militants during an operation directed at a known Haqqani IED (improved explosive device) and suicide bomber facilitator."

#5: Eight people, including four policemen, were killed Friday in a suicide bomb attack in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, Dawn news TV channel reported.The blast occurred near the office of deputy inspector general of police (DIG) of Mardan district, according to the report. Eight people, including four policemen, were killed in the blast, it said.

#6: Suspected U.S. missiles slammed into two villages close to the Afghan border yesterday, killing 27 people including an Arab al-Qaida operative and other foreign militants, intelligence officials said. He was among 20 people killed when two missiles hit a house and a car in Mir Ali village in North Waziristan after drones had been flying overhead for several hours, the officials said, citing reports from agents and informers in the area.

#7: Around two hours later, a second set of missiles hit a village in South Waziristan, killing seven people.

#8: Pakistani authorities have freed 21 Taliban fighters in exchange for an equal number of security personnel and civilians kidnapped by the militants following months of secret negotiations brokered by tribal elders.


Casualty Reports:

British Senior Aircraftman Craig Richardson, 21, was on a routine patrol with two others in Kandahar when their vehicle, a military Wmik Land Rover was blown up by either a land mine or roadside bomb. The two other airmen, who have not been named, were also injured and have been flown back to a military hospital the UK. SAC Richardson, a member of RAF Honington's 1 Squadron, which is on a sixth-month tour of duty in Afghanistan, had been due back to his Dereham home next week for a week's leave. he flew back to Birmingham Selly Oak Military Hospital where he is in intensive care and undergoing major surgery.

Marine Cpl. Mark Smith, 23, was wounded in Iraq about two years ago. Members of his unit from the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., were taking sniper fire from a tower in Ramadi, a city about 70 miles west of Baghdad. An explosive device blew up a sewer line, which prompted Smith to motion his unit to spread out. “When he took the next step, he stepped on a land mine,” his mother said. “It exploded and he went up 20 feet in the air.”
Water from the sewer line explosion probably cushioned his fall, but Smith lost his leg from the mid-thigh down, said his mother, a teacher at St. Andrews Montessori School in Macon.

Sgt. David Battle on his second tour of duty in Iraq last December with a tank unit, stepped on a mine. He lost both legs and an arm, but he didn't lose hope. Within days he was at Walter Reed Army Hospital where he has since been working hard on his recovery