MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a U.S. Soldier soldier from non-combat related injury in near Balad Ruz on Saturday, February 6th. No other details were released.
Feb. 5 airpower summary:
Al-Sadr candidates appeal results:
Iraq oil minister says OPEC to cut production:
KBR wins contract despite criminal probe of deaths:
U.S. Military Violated Security Agreement Twice in 2 Weeks, Iraqi Leaders Say:
Number of detainees reduced – U.S. adviser: The number of Iraqi detainees in U.S.-run prisons has dropped to 14,900, due to the daily release of 50 prisoners, a U.S. adviser said on Saturday.
Kyrgyzstan says U.S. air base decision is final:
Iraqi gov't talks with insurgent groups: newspaper:
AUSA Military Weaponry Tradeshow: (off topic but there's some interesting stuff here.)
Reported Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb planted by the wall of a store that sells alcoholic beverages in the main thoroughfare of Mansour neighbourhood, western Baghdad was found by a police patrol and later detonated at 10.45 p.m. Friday under control causing material damages to the store.
#2: Gunmen in a speeding car threw a hand grenade at a supermarket in 14 Ramadhan Street in Mansour, western Baghdad at 10.30 p.m. causing material damages to the store.
#3: A roadside bomb in the Mansour neighbourhood of western Baghdad wounded two policemen, police said.
Diyala Prv:
Khanqan:
#1: An Iraqi army soldier was killed and two others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near their vehicle in Diala on Friday, an official security source said. “An IED went off near a Hummer vehicle of the Iraqi army on the road linking Jalawlaa and al-Saadiya areas, leaving one soldier killed and two others injured,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Iraqi army forces found to unidentified bodies in Diala province on Friday, according to an official military source. “Iraqi army soldiers found two bodies of people aging 20-30 years old in the area of al-Saadiya, (35 km) southern Khanaqin district,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “There were no signs of the bodies having been shot. We don’t know how they were killed so far but the investigations will show all details,” the source added.
Arab Jabour:
#1: A policeman was killed and three others were wounded when an explosive charge detonated northeast of Baaquba city, a security source said on Saturday. “Today, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in Hamrin’s Arab Jabour, Saadiya district (155 km northeast of Baaquba), killing a cop and wounding three others,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Kanan:
#1: Around 9 p.m. gunmen broke out the house of Kanan Majeed a lawyer in Kanan town east Baquba and killed him.
Suwayra:
#1: The al-Zahraa Hospital morgue in al-Kut city on Friday received an unidentified body showing signs of having been tortured and shot, a morgue source said. “The tied-legged decomposed body, of an unidentified civilian man, was salvaged from a river in northern al-Suwayra district, (135 km) north of Kut,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Diwaniya:
#1: A U.S. patrol on Saturday wounded two civilians who were on their way to the holy Shiite city of Karbala for the Arbaeen pilgrimage, a security source said. “Random fire by U.S. patrolmen in Afak district, (30 km) east of Diwaniya, injured a man and a woman local residents of Missan province who were going on foot to Karbala to perform the rituals of Imam Hussein bin Ali’s Arbaeen pilgrimage,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Karbala:
#1: Gunmen kidnapped Talib al-Masoudi, who ran in Jan. 31 provincial elections as a candidate from the Shi'ite Fadhila party, from the Husseiniya neighbourhood in Kerbala, 80 km (50 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
Basra:
#1: Friday Police forces found and safely defused a 5 km bomb planted by the outer wall of the mosque in Iblah neighbourhood, northern Basra, where Ali al Safi, one of the prominent representatives of Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani gives sermons.
Balad:
#1: Iraqi police killed three militants including a Syrian national, and arrested another 13 suspected militants near Balad, 80 km (50 miles), north of Baghdad, police said.
Irbil:
#1: Two shepherds were wounded by a landmine explosion on the fringes of a town southwest of Arbil province on Friday, according to an official security source. “An Italian-made landmine went off near two brother shepherds on the road linking Makhmour and al-Kuweir districts, (30 km) southwest of Arbil, wounding them,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The incident occurred about 16 km west of Kuweir district,” the source said, adding one of them is seriously wounded.
Makhmour:
#1: An unknown body on Saturday was found near Makhmour district, according to a military source. “Today, an army force found a body of a young man on the main road between Makhmour district and al-Qayara, near Alawa Mahmoud village (30 km west of Makhmour),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The body bore signs of gunshot wounds and was taken to the morgue,” the source added.
Ninevah Prv:
Mosul:
#1: A roadside bomb wounded a soldier when it struck his patrol in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, on Friday, police said.
#2: An exchange of fire between Iraqi police forces and unknown gunmen Saturday left five people dead, including a militia member, security sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. Another militia member was wounded, the source added. The shooting took place in the Mithaq area of Mosul, some 400 KM north of Baghdad.
#3: A civilian man was wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire at a police patrol in western Mosul on Friday, a police source in Ninewa said. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire at a patrol of the 5th Emergency Police Department in al-Shifaa neighborhood, western Mosul, wounding a civilian man who happened to be near the attack scene,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#4: A militant wounded a policeman when he hurled a hand-grenade at a police checkpoint in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles), north of Baghdad, police said.
Tal Afar:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car opened fire and killed two civilians in Tal Afar, 420 km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, on Friday, police said.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: The Taliban said Saturday it had killed a Polish engineer kidnapped last year in Pakistan, but the Polish embassy in Islamabad was not able to confirm the claim. Piotr Stanczak was seized on September 28 by armed men who killed his two drivers and bodyguard in restive northwest Pakistan, where he was working for a Polish energy company. "We have beheaded the Polish engineer after the government failed to meet our demands and we will not hand over his body," a Taliban spokesman said by telephone. The claim to have murdered Stanczak came just hours after Polish Prime.
#2: Nahim Jan Shinwari, the district governor for Goshta district of eastern Nangarhar province and one of bodyguards were killed when their vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb in Bati Kot district of the province on Saturday, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the provincial governor said. Shinwari's driver was wounded in the attack, he said.
#3: Also on Saturday, Taliban militants shot dead a senior member for the provincial council of Nangarhar in Dare Noor district, Abdulzai said.
#4: US-led coalition forces killed an Afghan civilian and wounded two others including a woman and a child in south-eastern Khost province on Friday after the vehicle the victims were travelling in failed to stop at a military checkpoint, the US military said in a statement.
The statement said the forces gave flashlights and fired warning shots before they targeted the vehicle, which was approaching them at high speed.
#5: In another incident, Afghan police backed by coalition forces killed ten suspected Taliban fighters in a clash in Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province on Friday, Afghan interior ministry said in a statement. The militants attacked the joint forces after they arrested three rebels, who had been involved in roadside bombing in the area, the statement said, adding that there was no casualties among the combined forces.
#6: Eight persons, including six policemen, were killed when militants attacked and blew up a police post in Pakistan's Punjab province before dawn today.Witnesses said a group of armed militants first opened fire at the police post at Qudratabad in Mianwali district and then blew it up. The post collapsed after the powerful explosion, they said.Two Civil Defence volunteers, who were guarding the post, were gunned down by the militants. An assistant sub-inspector and five constables, who were sleeping inside, died when the building collapsed and they were buried under the debris, officials said.DSP Jamat Ali Bukhari said the attack was launched at 3.30 am and the post that was targeted was an important one.
Assailants threw a bomb at a police checkpoint in eastern Pakistan before dawn Saturday, killing seven officers, police said.District Police Chief Malik Tassadaq Hayyat said the attack came near the town of Mianwali in eastern Punjab province. He said residents also heard gunfire before the explosion that knocked down the roadside checkpoint.
#7: Meanwhile, suspected militants attacked a terminal used for supplies to NATO in Afghanistan and burned at least two vehicles, police said Saturday. No one claimed responsibility for the late Friday attack on the terminal in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Police official Attique Shah said they had stepped up security.
#8: The two attacks came hours after authorities said security forces backed by helicopter gunships had killed 52 militants in two raids in northwestern Pakistan, a lawless region where the Taliban and al-Qaida increasingly hold sway. The raids took place Friday near the Khyber region, said Fazal Mahmood, the No. 2 government representative in the area. They destroyed five militant hide-outs, a large ammunition depot and eight vehicles, he said. It was not possible to independently verify his account because the region is dangerous to visit.
Government helicopter gunships killed 52 militants in two attacks in northwestern Pakistan, a lawless region where the Taliban and al-Qaeda increasingly hold sway, an official said. The attacks took place on Friday near the Khyber region, said Fazal Mahmood, the No. 2 government representative in the area. They destroyed five militant hide-outs, a large ammunition depot and eight vehicles, he said.
#9: Taliban militants shot dead a police officer in Afghanistan's eastern Laghman province, an official said Saturday. "The enemies ambushed the vehicle of Abdul Aziz, the commander of police in Qarghai district, Friday night, killing him on the spot," district chief of Qarghai Mohammad Arif told Xinhua. He said one police was also killed in fire fight between the guards of Abdul Aziz and the insurgents. Meantime, Zabihullah Mujahid, who claims to speak for the Taliban, claimed responsibility, saying one Taliban fighter was also killed in the gun battle lasted for a while.
#10: A roadside bomb killed the chief of Bati Kot district in Nangarhar province, 140 km (90) miles east of Kabul, Abdulzai said.
Casualty Reports:
PFC Brian Claeys, 20, in the Army's 2nd Squadron, Third Armored Cavalry Regiment, was injured on May 23, 2008 while serving in the Diyala Province in Iraq. A member of the quick reactionary force, Claeys said the vehicle he was in was struck by a roadside bomb while his team was escorting recovery assets from a vehicle that was previously stuck by a similar explosive device.Claeys said he suffered moderate head injuries in the blast, injuries that he said has caused lasting brain damage. The injury is serious enough that the 2006 Pittsburg High School graduate has been medically discharged.
Spc. Endi Herrera with the 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment, Herrera was badly injured in Iraq and has spent the past 13 months in recovery.
British Major Phil Packer, 36, of London, suffered a back injury in a rocket attack in Basra. He was told he would never walk again after being injured in Iraq.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
War News for Saturday, February 07, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
War News for Friday, February 06, 2009
Feb. 4 airpower summary:
Kyrgyzstan says U.S. air base decision is final:
Pravda: USA ready to lose more men in Afghanistan for the sake of opium drugs:
Philippines may resend workers to Iraq, Nigeria:
UN Secretary General Visits Iraq:
Pentagon, media clash over control of information: snip Critics say the purpose of such violent material is not to inform the public about what the military is doing, but to promote it. Public affairs officers argue that they are in a battle with insurgents to shape the public perception of the wars they are fighting, and they will use every means available to push the military's version of events.
Reported Security incidents:
Diyala Prv:
Mandili:
#1: A civilian man was killed and two others injured when an improvised explosive device went off south of the district of Mandili, Diala province, on Thursday, a security source said. “An IED went off near a civilian vehicle in Ballour area, (10 km south of Mandili) killing a man and wounding two others,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Rashsd:
#1: Unidentified gunmen kidnapped a soldier southwest of Kirkuk city on Thursday, a senior security official said. “Unidentified gunmen on Thursday (Feb. 5) kidnapped an Iraqi soldier in the area between al-Riad and al-Rashad districts (35 km) southwest of Kirkuk,” Brig. Sarhad Qader, the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department chief, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Hawija:
#1: One person was killed and six others were arrested on Friday during a security operation waged by joint Iraqi-U.S. forces in southwest of Kirkuk, a security source said. “Iraqi police and army forces, backed by U.S. troops, launched a security operation in Bakara and al-Tariqiya villages in al-Huwaiyja district, southwest of Kirkuk, during which one person was killed and six were detained,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Mosul:
#1: A journalist was killed when a policeman opened fire at him in southern Mosul city on Thursday, a security source in Ninewa said. “The journalist, Sallam Arab al-Dawsaki, who works for al-Hadbaa newspaper, published in Mosul, was shot down by a policeman in front of his house in Wadi Hajar, southern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Thursday “A policeman was killed by gunmen fire near his house in al-Jammasa, eastern Mosul. He was on a regular leave,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#3: Thursday In another incident, the same source said an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near a police patrol in Zanjili, western Mosul, leaving a patrolman and a civilian wounded near the explosion scene.
#4: Iraqi army forces on Friday detonated an explosive charge in northern Mosul city, without causing any casualties or damage, a police source said. “Iraqi army forces managed Friday morning (Feb. 6) to detonate an improvised explosive device, planted by unknown gunmen in front of the house of Mohamed al-Nuaami, a candidate of al-Taakhi (brotherhood) list, in al-Arabi neighborhood in northern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the explosion left no casualties or damage.
Kurdistan:
#1: Turkey's military says its warplanes have struck Kurdish rebel targets inside northern Iraq.
Brig. Gen. Metin Gurak, the military spokesman, says Air Force jets bombed the Hakurk area on Wednesday and Thursday. Gurak made the announcement during a weekly news conference on Friday.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: International troops killed six Afghan men in an overnight raid on a village in southern Afghanistan. A provincial official said the men were civilians, but the U.S. military said they were militants. Zabul Province's deputy governor, Gulab Shah Alikheil, said six men were killed and three were arrested late Thursday night in a raid by foreign troops on a village in Shahresafa District. He said the dead were four brothers from one family, and two from another. The U.S. military said in a statement that the men were killed in a raid on a compound connected to a bomb-making cell.
#2: In a separate raids overnight, coalition and Afghan forces killed one militant in an assault on a bomb-making network in Khost province, the U.S. military said in a statement.
#3: Separately Friday, NATO forces said one of its joint patrols with the Afghan army shot dead an Afghan man on a motorcycle when he did not respond to multiple warning signals to stop.
"Unfortunately the rider was killed and only later confirmed not to be a suicide bomber," according to a statement by NATO forces. The incident occurred Tuesday in Helmand province.
#4: Two Canadian soldiers have been wounded -- one seriously -- after a roadside bomb attack, north of Kandahar. The pair were on patrol in an armoured vehicle in the Shah Wali Kot district on Thursday when the blast occurred.
#5: A suicide car bomber blew himself up and wounded seven people on Friday when police stopped him on the road through Pakistan's Khyber Pass, a vital supply route for Western forces in Afghanistan. The suicide car bomber set off his explosives when police ordered him to stop at a checkpoint on a small bridge, said senior administration official, Fida Bangash. The blast damaged the bridge and a truck waiting to cross it but Bangash suspected the bomber was heading to a bigger bridge destroyed in a blast on Tuesday that soldiers are repairing.
#6: Taliban militants shot dead two men in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the border with Afghanistan after accusing them of spying for the United States, a local official said Friday. The incident took place in Miranshah, the main town in the restive North Waziristan, which is a known stronghold of Al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents, tribal security official Said Ahmad Khan told AFP. The victims were identified as Aalm Pir and the second only by one name, Khan. Their bodies were found dumped at a bus stop in Miranshah early Friday with a note saying "they were killed because they were spying for Americans," Khan said.
#7: Two persons were killed and five others injured in a bomb explosion on a bridge in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan on Friday. The explosion occurred in Jumrood area of Khyber Agency, destroying a container carrying supplies for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in Afghanistan.
Casualty Reports:
British Marine Joe Townsend, 20, who lost both his legs in an explosion in Afghanistan.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
War News for Thursday, February 05, 2009
Photo: Crash recovery and emergency management crews survey a C-17 Globemaster III Jan. 31 as it rests on the active runway of Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, after landing Jan. 30 with its landing gear retracted. Click for a larger view.
USS San Antonio Sailor Missing:
At approximately 8:00 a.m. local time Feb. 4, an 11-meter rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) from USS San Antonio (LPD 17) flipped while it was being lowered into the water. Three personnel were thrown from the boat as it flipped. The ship was preparing to conduct routine personnel transfers to another U.S. ship operating in the Gulf of Aden. The tending line and the RHIB crane cable became hooked, causing the boat to flip over. Two Sailors were recovered and were not injured, a third Sailor is still missing.
Feb. 3 airpower summary:
Iraq: Sunni tribal leader says he can prove fraud:
Growing furor in Iraq's Anbar province sparks ballot recount:
Iraqi oil exports increased to 1.89 million barrels per day in January:
Soldier suicides at new high: At least 128 soldiers killed themselves in 2008. But the final count is likely to be considerably higher because 15 more suspicious deaths are being investigated and could turn out to be self-inflicted, the Army said. The new suicide figure compares with 115 in 2007 and 102 in 2006 and is the highest since record keeping began in 1980. Officials calculate the deaths at a rate of roughly 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers — higher than the adjusted civilian rate for the first time since the Vietnam War, officials said.
UK judges attack U.S. government over torture documents:
Top Navy official reviews operations at Guantánamo:
Reported Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi official says a roadside bomb targeted a government convoy in Baghdad that was carrying a deputy education minister but injured no one. Ministry spokesman Waleed Hussein said the bomb exploded Thursday morning as the convoy passed through the Baghdad neighborhood of Mansour. Hussein says deputy education minister Muadh al-Jibouri escaped injury.
#2: Wednesday Around 9 p.m. a roadside bomb targeted civilians in Al Mashtal neighborhood injuring four civilians and damaging their vehicle.
#3: A roadside bomb targeted a U.S. military convoy on Ghazaliyah traffic bridge at 9 a.m. today. No casualties were reported.
#4: Gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on candidate for the Party of the Constitution, Ms. Khadija Owaiyid's car, riddling the car but missing Owaiyid who later told the police, "I know who shot at me." This incident took place in Abu Disheer, Doura at noon, Thursday.
Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: The morgue in Baquba buried, Thursday 30 unidentified bodies in al Shereef graveyard. (Unidentified bodies that are not claimed within two months are buried by the Morgue).
#2: The house of Salim al Zaidi, candidate of al Liqaa Party was blown up while his family was in the house. The family members, however, were unhurt. The explosion destroyed the house, located in Gatoun, to the west of Baquba, and caused damages to two adjacent houses.
Khanaqin:
#1: a suicide bomber killed 15 people and wounded 15 others in volatile northeastern Diyala province on Thursday, police said, the bloodiest attack in Iraq in weeks and a reminder of the fragility of recent security gains. The attack took place in a popular restaurant in Khanaqin, an area on the border with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq's north, which has witnessed tension in the past between government and Kurdish forces.
Diwaniyah:
#1: A senior member of the Mahdi Army militia founded by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has been killed in a shootout in Iraq, police said on Thursday. Tariq Azab was shot on Wednesday night as officers tried to arrest him following his recent return from Iran, a police official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "He tried to escape, which prompted armed clashes and he was killed," the official said, referring to Azab as an "important" member of the feared Mahdi army, which was founded by Sadr following the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
U.S. troops on Thursday killed a civilian during a security raid in central Diwaniya, said a police source. “U.S. troops raided a house early Thursday (Feb. 5) in al-Jalabiya neighborhood in central Diwaniya, where they killed a civilian,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. No word was immediately available from the U.S. army on the incident.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: More than 120 Airmen, Defense Department civilians and contractors removed a crippled C-17 Globemaster III from the runway Feb. 2 at Bagram Airfield after the aircraft landed here Jan. 30 with none of its landing gear down. While none of the crew suffered significant injuries in the incident, the disabled aircraft presented a significant challenge to maintaining air operations. After more than two days of concentrated effort, recovery crews managed to lift the aircraft high enough to extend its wheels and prepare it for removal from the runway.
#2: A convoy of Indian construction workers on Wednesday came under attack from suspected Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, but no one was injured. A vehicle, carrying three Indians, was badly damaged when an improvised explosive device went off around 7.45 am when the convoy was on its way to a construction site in Khost, sources told PTI.The attackers also fired at the convoy of the workers of Indian company which is constructing a road between Khost and Gardez, they said. Security personnel accompanying the convoy retaliated, forcing the attackers to flee, they said, adding no one was injured in the attack.
#3: A roadside bombing targeting a vehicle of district chief of Musa Qala district in southern Afghan province of Helmand killed at least six guards aboard Wednesday, said an official. Abdul Salam, the district chief, told Xinhua it occurred at around 12:00 p.m. local time (0830GMT) when the vehicle of his guards running in the riot Musa Qala district hit remote-controlled mines planted by Taliban militants, leaving six dead onthe spot.
#4: At least seven security personnel were injured Thursday when their vehicle was attacked in a remote control bomb blast in Pakistan's northwestern Mohmond agency. The private Geo TV reported that the main target of the attack was to kill a Frontier Corp officer, who actually survived with injury.
#5: One vehicle belonging to Uruzgan police forces in south Afghanistan was struck by roadside mines Thursday on the Uruzgan-Kandahar highway, leaving at least three policemen dead and two more wounded, a police official said. Juma Gul Humat, the provincial police chief of Uruzgan, told Xinhua that it occurred around Thursday noon when the police vehicle patrolling along the Uruzgan-Kandahar high way hit IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device). "The incident happened near Shawali Kot district of Kandahar province and Uruzgan police forces has sent a team to the spot for investigation," the police official added.
#6: A suicide car bomb struck a foreign troop convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, officials said. The suicide bomber detonated a vehicle laden with explosives near a convoy of international soldiers outside Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarahr province, said Zemarai Bashary, Afghan interior ministry spokesman. "There has been a suicide car bomb attack against international forces but at this stage we have no information if it caused any casualties to the troops," the spokesman told AFP. Bashary said the blast caused no civilian casualties - a common feature of most insurgent attacks against Afghan and foreign forces. The area was cordoned off by Afghan police and foreign military personnel, and media weren't allowed access to the blast site, an AFP reporter said. Bashary didn't specify if the targeted troops were from NATO or a U.S.-led coalition, but locals said they were American forces. Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the attack targeted U.S. soldiers who were returning from an Afghan army base. He said there were no casualties among the military.
Casualty Reports:
Adrian Garcia, 21, tragic injury in Iraq. On March 21, 2007 Garcia's tank was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. The impact sent him flying from the tank. He is now an amputee.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
War News for Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Photo: A truck lies on a bridge that was destroyed Tuesday by Islamic militants in Pakistan’s Khyber Pass. The bridge in northwest Pakistan is a major supply line for Western troops in Afghanistan, a NATO spokesman said. The attack was the latest by insurgents seeking to hamper the U.S.-led mission against the Taliban. (Click on photo for larger view)
Feb. 2 airpower summary:
Reports: Kyrgyzstan to close key U.S. base:
Armored trucks on double duty: There were a record 3,276 attacks from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in 2008. Those attacks killed 161 coalition troops and wounded 722
Media group says at least 109 journalists killed on assignment in 2008:
US plan to arm militias scares some in Afghanistan:
British soldier arrested in Afghanistan: A British soldier has been arrested in Afghanistan over an alleged breach of the country's Official Secrets Act, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in London said on Wednesday.
Pentagon study: US should pare Afghanistan goals:
Humvee vulnerabilities were long know:
Iraqi death researcher censured:
Reported Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: Two civilians were wounded Wednesday in a roadside bomb explosion in central Baghdad, said a police source.“An explosive charge, planted by unknown gunmen on the road near Borg al-Haya hotel in Karada in central Baghdad, went off, injuring two civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: A bomb struck the car of the leader of an Awakening Council group in western Baghdad on Wednesday, wounding him and killing his son, a well-informed police source said. An explosive charge stuck to the car of Hikmat al-Tikriti, head of the Awakening Council group of Baghdad's western district of Yarmouk, detonated around 3:00 p.m. local time (1200 GMT), the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The blast took place in the nearby neighborhood of Dawoodi, wounding Tikriti and killing his son, the source said. Three bystanders were also wounded by the blast, the source added.
Diyala Prv:
Muqdadiya:
#1: Six Sahwa fighters were wounded in an improvised explosive device explosion in northeast of Baaquba, said a police source on Wednesday. “An explosive charge went off late Tuesday (Feb. 4) in al-Wehda region in Muqdadiya district, northeast of Baaquba, injuring six Sahwa fighters,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Two of the six were in a serious condition,” he explained.
#2: Nine policemen on Wednesday were wounded when an explosive charge went off in front of a police station in northern Muqdadiya district, according to a security source. “On Wednesday, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in front of a police station in Nofil area (45 km northeast of Baaquba), wounding nine cops, including three who remain in critical condition,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Khalis:
#1: Policemen on Wednesday found three mass graves in north of Baaquba, according to a security source. “Police forces found three mass graves in the gardens of Albu Teaama village in al-Salam district in Khalis in north of Baaquba, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The graves contain six decayed and beheaded bodies,” he added.
Kirkuk:
#1: Gunmen in a speeding car opened fire and wounded a civilian in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
Mosul:
#1: A parked car bomb targeting a police patrol wounded two people in northern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
Two civilians on Wednesday were wounded in a car bomb blast in Mosul city, according to a police source. “A roadside car bomb targeted a police patrol vehicle, wounding two persons in al-Ziraie neighborhood, northern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The two civilians, who were inside their house, were wounded by flying glass from windows,” the source noted, providing no further details.
#2: One civilian on Wednesday was wounded by random U.S. fire in downtown Mosul, an incident denied by a U.S. army media adviser. “On Wednesday, a civilian was wounded by a U.S. patrol opened random fire in al-Sarjkhana area, downtown Mosul, in response to a hand grenade attack by a gunman,” a security source in Ninewa police told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Speaking to Aswat al-Iraq news agency by phone, a media adviser for the U.S. forces, al-Muqdad Jibrael, denied the incident, saying that no U.S. patrol vehicle has opened fire in the concerned area.
#3: According to the same source, another explosive charge targeted a police patrol in Bab al-Toub area, downtown Mosul, causing no casualties. The explosion occurred only 200 m from the building of Mosul’s provincial council, the source explained.
#4: A civilian was wounded by a grenade thrown at a U.S. military convoy, the U.S. military said. It said the Americans returned fire at the assailant.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: At least five employees of an Indian company, an Indian included, were injured Wednesday morning when a remote-controlled bomb went off in eastern Afghanistan, the authorities said. Dawurat Khan Qayumi, an Afghan official, said the incident occurred at 8.30 a.m. in Ismael Khil district of Khost province when a vehicle of the Indian road construction company was hit in the blast. “So far at least four Afghan employees along with one Indian national were injured,” Qayumi added.
#2: In the latest attack, the suspected militants raided the lorry park during the night, tied down the guards and set the vehicles on fire after sprinkling petrol on them, witnesses said. No casualties were reported. Eight container lorries and a number of other vehicles were gutted near Landikotal, the main town in the Khyber tribal region, officials said. The empty lorries had returned after delivering supplies. The arson attack followed Tuesday's explosion at the key 30m (100 ft) iron bridge 23km (15 miles) west of Peshawar.
#3: Meanwhile, militants fired at least five rockets at a paramilitary fort in the same region on Tuesday night but no casualties were reported.
#4: Taliban militants kidnapped 30 Pakistani policemen after a punishing day-long siege, in an embarrassing blow Wednesday for the army battling to win back control of the Swat valley. The abduction, carried out at night when police and army reinforcements had suspended efforts to break the siege, underscores the huge challenges facing the security services. Thousands of Taliban besieged a police station in the area of Shamozai on Tuesday. The army was mobilised to rescue the police and break the circle of rebels, security officials said. Clashes continued throughout the day but as dusk fell, the operation was suspended. Then, overnight, the Taliban broke into the office, kidnapped the officers and blew up the building, said Swat police chief Dilawar Khan. Khan said the rebels kidnapped 30 policemen. A Pakistani intelligence official based in the northwest city of Peshawar said that four paramilitary and police officers had been wounded in clashes with Taliban militants at the station.
Pakistani Taliban released on Wednesday 29 paramilitary soldiers and policemen they captured in a raid on a police station in the Swat valley in the northwest of the country, two of the captured men said.
#5: In a related development, security and intelligence officials said that 50 militants were killed in military operations across the area from late Monday to Tuesday. The death tolls are impossible to verify independently with the sprawling region effectively sealed off from the outside world.
#6: In Peshawar city itself, police killed eight Taliban militants in a clash Wednesday that also wounded two policemen, security officials said.
Casualty Reports:
Robert Andrezjcak, 22, was wounded Jan. 7 during a patrol in Bayji, Iraq. As his company turned a corner during a patrol, an insurgent threw a grenade that exploded on the last vehicle, occupied by Andrezjcak and other soldiers. Shrapnel from the explosion injured seven passengers, including gunner Andrezjcak whose legs were injured and required removing the leg up to the knee. Injured soldiers reacted with aid to save him. All survived. “He had flash burns, it was pretty bad,” his father, Joe, told the Herald Jan. 29.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
War News for Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Jan. 31 airpower summary:
Feb. 1 airpower summary:
Iraq South Oil Head Calls For Revival Of National Oil Co:
UK meets conditions for withdrawal from Iraq:
Taliban violence spreads in Afghanistan: US report:
Polish soldiers on trial for killing Afghan civilians:
Baghdad:
#1: Security forces arrested 11 persons in Baghdad during the past 24 hours, the official spokesperson for Baghdad’s Operations Command (BOC) said on Tuesday. “Security forces also defused 71 explosive charges,” General Qassim Atta told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: A roadside bomb targeted an American patrol in Shaab neighborhood in northern Baghdad around 10 a.m. No casualties reported.
Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: Two bombs exploded in a crowded market in Baquba, the capital city of Iraq's ethnically divided Diyala province, on Tuesday morning, Iraqi media reported. "On Tuesday, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated inside an ambulance near a popular market in downtown Baquba. Another IED blast followed in the same place, leaving a number of casualties that was not immediately known," a police spokesman told the Voices of Iraq news agency Tuesday. Further details were not immediately known in the incident in Baquba, where Saturday's provincial council elections had passed peacefully, reported dpa.
Six people were wounded by two roadside bomb attacks in different parts of Baquba, capital of Diyala province 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.
Latifiya:
#1: An improvised explosive device (IED) on Tuesday targeted a U.S. convoy in northern Babel province, but no casualties were reported, according to a local security source. “The device, planted on a superhighway in al-Latifiya area (60 km north of Hilla), detonated while a U.S. private security company convoy was passing the location,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “It is still unclear whether the blast has caused damage or casualties,” the source added.
Nasiriya:
#1: Seven Iranian pilgrims have been killed after their bus collided with a truck en route to the holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq. The accident occurred on the road between Nasiriyah and Basra on Monday night and left 26 wounded, including women and children, according to IRNA. The pilgrims arrived in Iraq from the Iranian city of Mashhad via the Shalamcheh border.
Kirkuk:
#1: Two civilians on Tuesday were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off to the southwest of Kirkuk city, according to a local police chief. “This afternoon, an explosive charge detonated in al-Abbasi district (65 km southwest of Kirkuk city), wounding two civilians,” Brigadier Sarhad Qadir told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Monday night, a mortar hit one of the houses in Quriyah neighborhood in downtown Kirkuk. The mortar didn’t blow up. No damage reported.
Mosul:
#1: A woman and her two daughters on Tuesday were wounded by U.S. fire in southeastern Mosul city, according to a police source. “A U.S. patrol vehicle was clearing the way for itself in Falasteen neighborhood, southeastern Mosul, by shooting randomly at passers-by,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Four persons, including a policeman, were wounded in a blast that occurred in eastern Mosul city, a security source said on Tuesday. “Today, an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted a U.S. patrol vehicle in al-Nabi Younis area, eastern Mosul, wounding four individuals, including a traffic cop,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.The source did not provide further details.
#3: Police found one dead body in Thawra neighborhood in western Mosul.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Two Australian soldiers and an Explosives Detection Dog serving with the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF-1) have been wounded in a road-side bomb attack in southern Afghanistan. The soldiers were conducting a security patrol on Friday morning (30 January 2009) when the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle they were travelling in was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED). Both soldiers received non-life threatening wounds to their lower body and are in a stable condition. One soldier will be evacuated to Germany for specialist treatment.
#2: A government official says militants have blown up a bridge in northwest Pakistan, temporarily cutting a major supply line for Western troops in Afghanistan. Hidayat Ullah says militants bombed the bridge early Tuesday in the Khyber Pass region. was not immediately clear whether supply convoys could bypass the destroyed bridge and still reach Afghanistan.
The blast occurred about 6 a.m. Tuesday in the Khata Kushta area of Jamrod in the Khyber Agency in Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The bridge connected Landi Kotal and Jamrod. Transport has been suspended, and authorities are assessing damages. Engineers also are on location and work is under way to open a temporary route. Details were unclear on the size of the blast, but most of the iron bridge was destroyed, local officials said. No deaths or injuries were immediately reported.
Pakistani authorities swiftly re-opened a key supply route serving NATO forces in Afghanistan Tuesday, following a rebel attack on a bridge in the north-western tribal region, an official said.
#3: The Afghan intelligence service says it's broken up a cell of suicide bombers allegedly responsible for a series of fatal attacks in Kabul. The agency blames the cell for six attacks that have killed 20 civilians and wounded more than 100 others over the last two years. So far, 17 people have been arrested. Three others remain on the run and it's thought they're in Pakistan.
#4: At least 35 militants were killed overnight in a ground and air operation against insurgents in Pakistan's northwest Swat region, the military said Tuesday. "Thirty-five militants were killed in Khawazakhela overnight," the Pakistani military said in a short statement. The military has said that two soldiers have been killed since Sunday. The army attacked militant hideouts in the Khawazakhela district of the sprawling valley, two days after the military announced that another 16 militants were killed in a similar operation at a different place in the troubled region.
#5: An Afghan man was accidentally struck and killed by a vehicle of an International Security Assistance Force convoy in the Parwan province, Charikar District, today. Military personnel administered aid at the scene; however, the injuries proved fatal.
Cpl. Michael L. Jernigan In 2004, Jernigan was blinded by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
Monday, February 2, 2009
War News for Monday, February 02, 2009
The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. CW4 Milton Eric Suggs died from an undisclosed incident at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti on Friday, January 30th.
The Canadian DND is reporting the death of a Canadian ISAF soldier from an IED attack in the Zharey District 40 km west of Kandahar City, Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Saturday, January 31st,
Jan. 30 airpower summary:
"Surprise" poll victories strengthen Iraq's Maliki:
Iraq election hints at Shi'ite troubles:
Commission gets grim report on wartime spending:
Russia observers register major falsifications at Iraq elections:
Obama says most U.S. troops in Iraq home within a year:
US Supplies Shrinking in Afghanistan:
U. S. could survive defeat in Afghanistan, NATO will not:
GLS interpreters in Iraq threaten to strike over pay cuts:
A psychologist jailed after a mission in Iraq:
Reported Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: On Monday, though, a roadside bomb targeting an American convoy exploded, said an Iraqi police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information. Two people were killed and six others were wounded, the officer said. There were no reported American causalities.
Kut:
#1: A wife of a policeman on Monday was wounded in an armed attack on her house in western Kut, according to a local police source. “Unknown gunmen attacked the house of a policeman in al-Azza area, western Kut, wounding his 29-year-old wife,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The policeman was not in the house at the time of the attack,” the source noted, adding that an investigation is currently underway.
Baiji:
#1: Two Iraqi soldiers were injured by a roadside bomb which targeted their vehicle in downtown Baji city north of Tikrit on Monday morning.
Makhmour: (Irbil Prv.)
#1: Two unknown bodies were found in Iraq’s northern Makhmour district, a local security source said on Monday. “On Monday, police forces found two unknown bodies belonging to civilians on a road between al-Kweer and Makhmour,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The bodies bore gunshot wounds to the head and chest and were delivered to the morgue,” the source added.
Kirkuk:
#1: The airbase of the Multinational forces in Kirkuk was attacked by an unknown rocket, a source from the joint coordination center in Kirkuk said on Monday. “A rocket was launched by unknown gunmen at 2:00pm on Monday (Feb. 2) in Baghdad road region in southern Kirkuk towards the Multinational forces’ base in southwestern Kirkuk, with no reports on casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency
Mosul:
#1: Six civilians on Monday were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in Mosul city, according to a local security source. “Monday at noon, an explosive charge targeted a U.S. patrol vehicle in Raas al-Gada area, western Mosul, wounding six civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
update: The Casualties from the bombing attack that took place on Monday in western Mosul rose to two dead and 10 wounded, according to a security source. “The death toll of the bomb blast that targeted a U.S. vehicle patrol on Monday (Feb. 2) in western Mosul rose two dead and ten wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the two are a man and his son. The same source had said earlier that an explosive charge targeted a U.S. patrol vehicle in Raas al-Gada area, western Mosul, wounding six civilians. Aswat al-Iraq news agency has tried to contact the U.S. side, but to no avail.
#2: One policeman was wounded when a roadside bomb went off near his patrol in western Mosul city, a source from the Ninewa police said on Monday. “The incident took place at Talal-Roman area,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Gunmen kidnapped an American U.N. worker and killed his driver in southwestern Pakistan on Monday, underscoring the security threat in a country wracked by al-Qaida violence and rising criminality. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry called the abduction a "dastardly terrorist act," but it was not clear who seized the head of the U.N. refugee office in the city of Quetta as he traveled to work. Police officer Khalid Masood identified the victim as U.S. citizen John Solecki and said he had been working in Quetta for more than two years.Authorities sealed exit routes from the city, said Wazir Khan Nasir, another officer. U.N. spokeswoman Amena Kamaal in Islamabad confirmed that a Pakistani driver was killed and a foreign national employee's whereabouts were unknown but declined to release any other details.
A senior official of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was kidnapped Monday by some unidentified gunmen in southwestern Pakistan.
#2: A suicide bomber in a police uniform detonated his explosives inside a police training centre in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 21 officers and wounding at least 20, officials said. The bomber entered the training facility in Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province, as the police reservists were exercising, said Juma Gul Himat, Uruzgan's provincial police chief. The blast, which also damaged the compound, killed 21 policemen and wounded at least 20 others, Himat said. Nine of the wounded were sent to hospitals, while the rest were released after treatment, Himat said.
#3: A man was killed and six people were injured when unidentified attackers lobbed a hand grenade at a police patrol in remote southwestern Pakistan, police said yesterday. The grenade attack occurred late Saturday in the town of Khuzdar, some 330km south of Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province on the border with Afghanistan
and Iran. “The police patrol was the target, but the grenade was tossed over the vehicle’s roof, fell in front of some shops and exploded, killing a passerby and injuring six other people,” senior police official Rehmat Ullah said. Another grenade exploded in almost the same spot, but it caused no casualties or damage, he said. Police are investigating the incident but have thus far made no arrests, he said.
#4: Hundreds of Afghans demonstrated Sunday against an overnight US military raid that killed several civilians, a villager claimed whereas US military said its forces killed two militants.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
News of the Day for Sunday, February 1, 2009
(AFP/Filippo Monteforte)
Reported Security Incidents
Baghdad
Sticky bomb injures 2 civilians in al-Mada’en, southeastern Baghdad.
Near Mosul
Gunmen blow up the house of Faisal al-Habw, a candidate for a party affiliated with the Iraqi National List. (This is a secular party, which includes socialists.)
Near Hilla
A bomb near the home of an Iraqi National Congress candidate for office severely damages the building, in the village of al-Sayahai.
Mosul
U.S. forces kill 2 Iraqi policemen under disputed circumstances on Saturday afternoon. Iraqi Army spokesman Col. Safaa Abdul-Razaq said the police were manning a checkpoint when they were killed by the Americans, but the U.S. claims they fired on U.S. forces from inside a building which was suspected of harboring al Qaeda fighters.
Kirkuk
U.S. military says a soldier died of non-combat related injuries.
Other News of the Day
Government says voter turnout was 51% in local and provincial elections, under extremely tight security. This was lower than the 55.7% four years ago, even though Sunni Arabs largely boycotted the election on that occasion. Turnout in Baghdad was just 40%. The ruling Shiite bloc is claiming to have done well against allies of Muqtada al-Sadr in Shiite areas, but votes will not be counted for several days, and final results will not be certified for a month. Remember that voting in the disputed region of Kirkuk was postponed. -- C
Although violence connected with the polling was limited (although not essentially non-existent as most western news agencies are implying) there are some complaints about the election. Whether these will seriously undermine its credibility remains to be seen. AP's Brian Murphy reports. Excerpt:
Results are not expected before Tuesday. But possible challenges were already leaking out.
Sheik Dari al-Arsan, a senior Sunni leader in western Anbar province where former anti-insurgent militias were seeking political gains, alleged that voters couldn’t reach polling stations because of the traffic ban and that others in Fallujah found the door shut.
In Karmah, about 50 miles west of Baghdad, local election observer Sabah Hussein said he found ballots marked in advance for the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni bloc that is a partner in al-Maliki’s government.
But a U. N. election observer, Said Arikat, described the election in mostly positive terms: “By and large, the rules were followed.”
Iraqi police demolish sculpture of a shoe in Tikrit, erected in honor of Muntadhar al-Zeid, who threw his shoes at George W. Bush during a Green Zone press conference.
According to Iraqi government statistics, civilian deaths in January were 138, the lowest since the 2003 invasion. Fifty-one police and soldiers were also killed. (However, imagine if you will that level of politically motivated violence in say, Texas, which is about the size of Iraq. That we are expected to take this as a sign of normality is rather odd. --C)
15 U.S. military died in Iraq in January, one more than in December.
Afghanistan Update
Suicide bomb attack on a NATO-led convoy near Kabul injures 2 Afghans, 1 NATO soldier. Nationality of the injured soldier is not given, but eyewitnesses are quoted saying he is French. Quqnoos gives the total number wounded as 4.
U.S. troops kill a tribal elder at a checkpoint in Paktika Province.
A rising epidemic of opiate addiction in Kandahar overwhelms the only treatment facility.
Quote of the Day
Saturday's elections are a mere hop in a nation-building journey that had barely left the gate when perilous missteps in 2005 (an electoral boycott and a constitution-drafting process gone awry) almost derailed it. The elections -- set to fill posts at the provincial level -- will form elected local governments in a country that has yet to wean itself of the habits of a top-heavy centralized state. As the past six years have shown, the capacity for local leadership remains severely deficient. Training local administrators in preparing their own budgets, for example, has proven a formidable challenge. That's only the beginning.
Logistics aside, a series of factors has spawned a certain cynicism about what local governments will and can do effectively. Lawlessness, corruption, isolation from Baghdad, inexperience, and confusion about overlapping authorities has disillusioned the newly voting public. When you ask Iraqis what the local councils have done for them, the stock answer is: Nothing. An independent politician in Diwaniya explained, "Despite violence, terrorism, explosions and threats, people voted [in 2005]. But what did they gain? They gained the reality that doors were shut in their faces."
This perception will likely affect voting behavior. Low turnout may favor the same parties that brought us poor governance in the first place. . .
Joost Hillerman.
