MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier while conducting a combat patrol in an undisclosed location near Baghdad on Saturday, February 21st.
The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. PFC Cwislyn K. Walter died from a non-combat related incident in Kuwait city on Thursday, February 19th.
The AFP is reporting the deaths of three U.S. led coalition soldiers in a roadside bomb attack in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan on Friday, February 20th. We are assuming these to be American soldiers.
Feb. 19 airpower summary:
Feb. 18 airpower summary:
U.S. drones widen attack on militants inside Pakistan:
Sadr renews idea of local alliances with Iraq PM:
Kurdish leader in Iraq wants rights protected:
Fleischer says Bush changed after WMDs not found: (and speaking of BS)
Pentagon: Guantanamo humane prison: (And here's another crock of s*!#)
The Other Working Dogs of Iraq:
99-year-old Palestinian bitten by Israeli army dog: (off topic but this makes me sick--whisker)
Wisconsin to Deploy Largest Force Since WWII:
Reported Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: Four civilians were wounded in two blasts by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in al-Mansour area, western Baghdad, on Saturday, an Iraqi police source said. “A roadside IED went off in al-Mansour area, western Baghdad, on Saturday evening near an Iraqi army patrol, wounding two civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Two civilians others were wounded when a second IED went off in the same area a short while after the first one,” the source added.
Jarf Al Sakhr:
Two gunmen on Saturday were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) blew up while they were planting it near Hilla city, according to a police source. “The explosive charge detonated in Jarf al-Sakhr area (60 km northwest of Hilla),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Hilla:
#1: A candidate in Iraq's January 31 provincial elections was on Saturday killed by gunmen outside his house in Babil province, south of the capital Baghdad, police said. "A group of armed men killed Mohammed Hadi Layhub, a member of the Al-Umma party and a provincial elections candidate, at his house" south of Hilla, the capital of Babil, said Kadhem al-Shamari.
Diwaniya:
#1: An Iraqi police source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that unidentified gunmen today shot and killed an Iraqi police officer in front of his house in the area of Diwaniya, the largest city in Al-Qadsiya south of Baghdad and then ran away after that.
Tikrit:
#1: A sticky improvised explosive device (IED) on Saturday went off in downtown Tikrit city, wounding a police officer, according to a local security source. “Lt. Arkan Sabir from the Quick Response Department (QRD) in Salah al-Din province was seriously wounded when an explosive charge stuck to his vehicle blew up in al-Arbaeen St, downtown Tikrit,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Makhmour:
#1: An unknown corpse on Saturday was found by Iraqi army personnel near Makhmour district, according to a military source. “Today, an army force found a body of a man in his thirties on the main road linking Makhmour district to al-Qayara district near Diyozanti village (28 km west of Makhmour),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The body bore gunshot wounds,” the source noted, adding that an investigation is currently underway to reveal the motivations behind the murder.
Kirkuk:
#1: A roadside bomb wounded an Iraqi soldier when it struck a patrol southwest of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
Mosul:
#1: An Iraqi serviceman on Saturday was wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted his patrol vehicle in Mosul city, according to a local security source. “The explosion occurred in Sumor neighborhood, southeastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Helicopter gunships and artillery targeted several militant locations overnight in Bajaur tribal district, where Pakistani security forces are fighting Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The action that started late Friday continued Saturday morning. “Our forces have destroyed some important hideouts of militants and killed some 25 insurgents, including a commander Faizullah,” said a security official from paramilitary troops Bajaur Scouts.
#2: In the neighbouring Khyber tribal region, a remote-controlled bomb planted along Pak-Afghan Highway destroyed a tanker carrying fuel supplies for NATO forces. “One bypasser was killed and two more injured, while the driver remained unhurt,” said a local official, Amirzada Khan.
#3: Separately, sectarian tensions in Dera Ismail Khan district, which borders ungoverned tribal region, intensified a day after a suicide bombing at Shia funeral procession killed 35 people and injured more than 150. Unknown gunmen opened fire on a group of Sunni Muslims in a market, leaving two of them dead and three more injured, said a police officer, Amanullah Khan.
#4: In another incident, two suspected terrorists were killed when their explosive-laden car exploded pre-maturely in Lucky Marwat area, which is adjacent to Dera Ismail Khan.
#5: Militants shot dead a policeman after accusing him of being U.S. spy and left his body by the roadside near the Afghan border on Saturday, a government official in North Waziristan tribal region said.
#6: Afghan police guarding a World Food Programme convoy killed three insurgents and wounded two more after they were ambushed in the Khash Rud district of Nimroz province, some 675 km (420 miles) southwest of Kabul, the Interior Ministry said.
#7: Two road construction workers were killed in a mine explosion in Ghazni province, some 130 km (80 miles) southwest of Kabul, the Defence Ministry said.
#8: Two soldiers of Afghan National Army (ANA) were killed and four others sustained injures when their vehicle hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province, an official said Saturday. "The incident occurred in the Sabari district on Friday, as a result two soldiers were killed and four others got wounded," Provincial Police Chief Abdul Qayum Baqizai told Xinhua.
Casualty Reports:
Capt. Joe Bogart, morning of Oct. 6, 2006 the Army's Fifth Engineer Battalion was clearing roadside bombs in Baghdad when the convoy was hit. An explosion four feet from Bogart's command vehicle sent shrapnel shooting into his head. He lost his right eye. He suffered brain damage and severe facial fractures.
Army Pfc. Daryl Pelland, 19, was seriously wounded in an Iraq bombing last month. He was wounded Jan. 24 when a remote controlled bomb exploded near the Humvee in which he was riding south of Baghdad. Pelland and two other soldiers were wounded. Pelland was flown to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he is recovering from wounds to his left leg and foot.Pelland, a gunner, is a member of the Army's 77th Field Artillery. "We were the last vehicle in the convoy, and there was an explosion," Pelland said. "Three of us were hit." Pelland has had multiple surgeries to remove shrapnel from his leg and thigh. A nerve in his calf was also damaged.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
War News for Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
War News for Friday, February 20, 2009
US to decide in weeks, "not months" on Iraq troop cuts:
Unemployment poses security risk in Iraq:
NATO Wants 'Civilian Surge' in Afghanistan:
US expands prison in Afghanistan:
US' latest payment to Pakistan for fighting Taliban delayed:
IAEA’s Iran report has nothing new: Diplomat (Lead)
Kyrgyzstan hands U.S. air base eviction notice: Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry said on Friday it had sent the United States ambassador a formal notice demanding Washington close its military air base in the country and giving U.S. troops 180 days to pack up and leave.
US: Kyrgyz base not 'closed issue': U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Kyrgyzstan's decision to shutter an American air base is not a "closed issue."
Debt is a target on U.S. military radar: Military personnel with outstanding legal debts are barred from overseas duty or security clearances, which keeps thousands of U.S. troops from doing their jobs. So the Pentagon is tackling the problem. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.
GIs are back, but at a loss: A survey of soldiers returning from Iraq found that as many as 1 in 4 had some level of hearing damage. A study in the American Journal of Audiology found that soldiers deployed to Iraq from April 2003 to March 2004 were 50 times more likely to suffer acoustic trauma than those who were not deployed.
Reported Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi soldier was shot and wounded by sniper fire in Baghdad's western district of Mansour, police said.
Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: An Iraqi soldier was killed in downtown Baquba city north of Baghdad around 7 p.m. by an adhesive bomb which was stuck to his car.
Hilla:
#1: Police forces on Friday found an unknown body in a house in south of Hilla city, a police source said. “Policemen found an unidentified body in a house in al-Hamza al-Gharbi region in south of Hilla,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The decayed body bore signs of gunshot wounds,” he noted.
Kut:
#1: Three shepherds were killed when a landmine left from the 1980-1989 Iraqi-Iranian war went-off in eastern Wassit on Friday, a security source from the province said. “The incident took place at Jasan district, 65 km east of Kut city,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Latifiya:
#1: A civilian was killed by unknown gunmen on Friday in northern Babel, a police source said. “Unidentified gunmen killed a civilian in front of his house in al-Latifiya region in north of Hilla,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Abu Ghraib:
#1: A woman and two children were killed on Thursday in two explosions outside a home near Abu Ghraib, on Baghdad's western outskirts, the U.S. military statement said. Two men were injured.
Kirkuk:
#1: An Iraqi army soldier was wounded when an improvised explosive device went off near his patrol southwest of the province of Kirkuk on Friday, according to a security source within the joint coordination center in the city. “The IED exploded near an Iraqi army patrol in a village in the district of al-Riad, (40 km) southwest of Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency
Al Anbar Prv:
Fallujah:
#1: A magnetic bomb detonated under a policeman’s car in Zedan’s neighborhood in eastern Fallujah. Two people were killed (the policeman’s father and wife) and he was wounded in that incident.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A bomb tore through a funeral procession for a slain Shiite Muslim leader in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 25 people and wounding scores more, officials said. Friday's explosion struck a 1,000-strong crowd streaming toward a graveyard in Dera Ismail Khan for the burial of Sher Zeman, a Shiite leader who was gunned down in the city the day before. Ashiq Salim, a doctor at the main hospital in the city of Dera Ismail Khan, said 25 bodies had been brought there and that medics were scrambling to treat another 60 people who were wounded. Police said people angered by the attack fired on officers rushing to the scene, where TV footage showed a bloodstained street littered with shoes and torn clothing.
#2: Five soldiers were wounded when a grenade accidentally exploded at the Danish military headquarters in southern Afghanistan yesterday. A statement from the armed forces last night said that the one of the soldiers sustained serious wounds, while the other four were slightly hurt by grenade fragments. The explosion occurred at Camp Bastion in the Helmand Province after the soldiers had returned from their assignment. They were unpacking their equipment when the grenade went off near the ramp of an armoured vehicle.
#3: One Afghan was injured in an escalation of force incident near Kabul, Wednesday. An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) convoy encountered an oncoming vehicle that failed to halt despite repeated measures to warn and deter the vehicle’s approach. After several nonlethal attempts, the convoy fired a series of disabling shots to halt the vehicle’s progress, causing the driver to pull over.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
War News for Thursday, February 19, 2009
Feb. 17 airpower summary:
Feb. 16 airpower summary:
U.S. contractors refuse to ID Iraqi translators; 300 killed since 2003:
Kyrgyzstan parliament votes to close key U.S. air base: Deputies voted 78-1 for the government-backed bill to cancel the lease agreement on the Manas air base, a transit point for 15,000 troops and 500 tons of cargo each month to and from Afghanistan. Two deputies abstained. If President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signs the bill and Kyrgyz authorities issue an eviction notice, the United States will have 180 days to vacate the base.
General Sees Long Term for Afghanistan Buildup:
No more Norwegian troops to Afghanistan:
Russian flour reaches Afghanistan under new aid program:
FT: Afghan donations fall billions short:
Reported Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb detonated in Karadat Mariam neighborhood in downtown Baghdad around 1 p.m. Three people were injured.
#2: A roadside bomb targeted the convoy of Adel Abdul Mahdi’s guards near the Masbah intersection in Karrada neighborhood in downtown Baghdad around 1:30 p.m. Eight people were wounded including four guards.
#3: Four civilians were wounded on Thursday in a bomb explosion in central Baghdad, the spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command said. “A locally-made bomb, left by unknown man near a popular restaurant in al-Salihiya region in central Baghdad, went off, injuring four civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: An Iraqi army soldier killed three of his colleagues and then committed suicide at a checkpoint to the south of Baaquba city, said a security source from Diala province’s police. “The soldier belongs to the Iraqi army 1st division,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “He was stationed at a checkpoint in al-Abara area of Bohroz district, 5 km south of Baaquba, where the incident took place,” he said. “The serviceman was hysterical when he committed this act,” he added.
Balad Ruz:
#1: Four Iraqi soldiers were killed and two were injured when a roadside bomb exploded in the restive province of Diyala on Thursday, a senior police officer told AFP. The attack took place in Balad Ruz, a town 70 kilometres (44 miles) northeast of Baghdad, said the officer, who asked not to be named. "Four Iraqi soldiers were killed and two others wounded when a roadside bomb targetted their patrol," he said.
Khan Bani Saad:
#1: Iraqi army forces on Thursday found three bodies in a mass grave in a village in the south of Baaquba, an army source said. “Iraqi army forces found a mass grave containing three unidentified bodies in Abu Seif village in Bani Saad district in south of Baaquba,” Colonel Ali Mahmoud Mutaaeb told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The bodies, belong to three civilians, bore signs of gunshot wounds to the head and different parts of the body,” he added.
Kirkuk:
#1: A total of 14 unknown bodies were buried in a cemetery in Kirkuk on Thursday morning, a member of the Kirkuk provincial council said. “A specialized committee in Kirkuk started Thursday morning (Feb. 19) buring 14 unknown bodies, all males, in a cemetery in Naja Ali region in south of Kirkuk,” Jawad al-Janabi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “They bodies spent more than 6 months in the morgue,” he noted.
Mosul:
#1: A policeman was killed and five people were wounded in a suicide car bomb explosion in southern Mosul, a security source said on Thursday. “A suicide bomber blew up a car crammed with explosives on Thursday morning (Feb. 19) targeting a police vehicle patrol in Wadi Hagar region in southern Mosul, killing one policeman and injuring five, including three civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Police found the remains of a body believed to belong to the attacker inside the car,” he added.
#2: An off-duty Iraqi soldier was shot dead in central Mosul, police said.
#3: A policeman was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
#4: Gunmen killed the owner of a shop in western Mosul, police said.
#5: Gunmen killed a man and stole his car in central Mosul, police said.
#6: A policeman was wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in western Mosul, police said.
#7: A roadside bomb wounded a civilian when it exploded near a police patrol in Mosul, police said.
#8: A combined force of the Iraqi army and police on Thursday defused a car bomb in eastern Mosul, said a security source from Ninewa province’s police. “The booby-trapped car was parked in al-Methaq neighborhood, eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The car bomb was defused without any casualties,” he said.
Al Anbar Prv:
Garma:
#1: A roadside bomb near a police station killed a policeman and wounded one person in the town of Garma, 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police said.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Gunmen killed a Pakistani television reporter Wednesday hours after he covered a peace march led by a hard-line cleric aimed at convincing militants in the Swat Valley to lay down their weapons under a pact with the government, the victim's employer said. It was unclear who shot Geo television's Musa Khan Khel. Khel's body was found close to the town of Matta several hours after he had left the rest of his crew without telling them where he was going, said Azhar Abbas, the managing director of Geo, Pakistan's most popular news channel. He had been shot several times in his upper body, and his throat was partly slit, Abbas said, refusing to speculate on a motive for the crime.
#2: A bomb planted by insurgents struck the car of an Indian engineer in Khost province east of Afghanistan Thursday, killing a local guard and wounding two others including the engineer, police said. "The gruesome incident occurred in Dumanda district on Khost--Gerdez highway at 12:30 p.m. local time, as a result the Indian engineer along with one of his guards were injured and another guard was killed," provincial police chief Abdul Qayum Baqizoi told Xinhua. He further added that the Indian engineer works for a road construction company involved in building roads in east Afghanistan.
#3: A would-be suicide bomber who was trying to target a US military convoy in Kabul was arrested by Afghan security forces. The would-be bomber was arrested in the Company area, located on western outskirts of Kabul city, on Wednesday as he was trying to target a convoy of US military forces which was passing by the area, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The man was driving a Toyota Surf vehicle, loaded with 170 kilograms of explosive, two cylinders filled with ten kilograms of gas and three litres of petrol, the statement said.
#4: Meanwhile, three militants were killed in Kajaki district of the southern province of Helmand on Wednesday when a bomb they were trying to plant on a road in the district exploded prematurely, an Interior Ministry statement said.
#5: Separately, four insurgents were killed in a fight with Afghan army forces in Panjwayee district of the southern province of Kandahar on Wednesday, the Defence Ministry said in a statement. Army forces seized ten tractors that Taliban insurgents had stolen from local villagers in the province, it said, adding that the militants were using the tractors to dig tunnels and build military fortifications.
#6: Three guards hired by NATO security forces were shot dead Thursday. It was not clear who shot the three men working for NATO security forces in the eastern province of Khost, provincial government spokesman Kuchai Nasiri said.
#7: Also in Khost, a boys' school was torched overnight, provincial education director Sayed Musa Majroh said, blaming the attack on Taliban, who are said to have destroyed scores of schools in this manner.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
War News for Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Feb. 15 airpower summary:
1,075 Canadians injured or killed in Afghanistan:
Obama orders 17,000 more troops into Afghanistan:
Iran says it has built unmanned aircraft: A top Iranian defense official says the country has built an unmanned surveillance aircraft with a range of more than 600 miles.
Six months in Afghanistan: (video/interactive/and audio slideshow)
Latvia prepares to ship supplies to US forces in Afghanistan:
Analysis: Poles, Czechs fear loss of US bases:
Italy to send more troops to Afghanistan: Italy is ready to increase its military force in Afghanistan by about 500 to nearly 3,000 troops, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Wednesday.
Reported Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: Gunmen in a car shot dead an official of a Sunni Arab party in front of his Baghdad home on Wednesday, a colleague in the Iraqi Islamic Party said. Samir Safwat, a 55-year-old Trade Ministry employee, was gunned down in the southern district of Zafraniyah, said lawmaker Omar Abdel Sattar, adding that the assailants fled.
#2: A gunman shot an RPG missile at a military barracks located in an unoccupied school in Sadr city, northeastern Baghdad at 9 p.m. Tuesday killing one soldier and injuring four others.
Basra:
#1: An Iraqi military official says a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims has collided with a British military vehicle on the outskirts of Basra, killing seven of the travelers. Maj. Gen. Mohammed Jawad Huwaidi says 27 pilgrims were injured in the accident late Tuesday night. Huwaidi, the top military official in Basra, says the pilgrims were coming from the Shiite holy city of Karbala. A British Defense Ministry spokesman says the military vehicle was on a routine night patrol outside Basra when a bus drove into the back of it.
Tikrit:
#1: Major-General Salahuddin Rasheed, commander of an Iraqi military division, was lightly wounded when a roadside bomb struck his convoy just south of Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, said Mohammed Anwar, a police captain in Tikrit. Five of the officer's bodyguards were also wounded.
Kirkuk:
#1: An explosive charge exploded on Wednesday (Feb. 18) near a cotton ginnery on the Kirkuk-Baghdad road on southwest of Kirkuk while a police vehicle patrol was passing,” Colonel Kamel Ahmed told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The explosion left no casualties but destroyed a military vehicle,” he added.
#2: Another bomb exploded near the same region, without casualties,” he also said.
Mosul:
#1: One Christian civilian on Tuesday was killed when he came under fire by unknown gunmen’ in al-Midan neighborhood, Mosul city, according to a reliable source. “The victim was targeted by unidentified armed men near to the location of his work,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The source explained that the deceased victim was with his colleague when they both came under gunmen’s fire, and that the other victim was wounded and is currently in critical and unstable condition at hospital.
#2: An Iraqi soldier was wounded on Tuesday in a bomb explosion in eastern Mosul city, an Iraqi army source said. “An improvised explosive device went off on Tuesday (Feb. 17) targeting Iraqi army vehicles patrols of the 3rd brigade in al-Tahrir neighborhood in eastern Mosul, injuring a soldier,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#3: A policeman was injured on Tuesday in a sticky bomb explosion in south of Mosul, according t a police source. “An improvised explosive device stuck to a private car, went off in Hamam al-Aleel district in south of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion led to cutting off one of the cop’s legs,” he added.
#4: A civilian was killed on Tuesday by unknown gunmen in west of Mosul city, a police source said. “Unknown gunmen shot and killed a civilian on Tuesday (Feb. 17) at the center of a market in Tal Abta district in west of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He gave no further details.
#5: A policeman was killed on Wednesday in a roadside bomb explosion in western Mosul, a police source said. “An improvised explosive device went off Wednesday (Feb. 18) targeting a police vehicle patrol in Souq al-Maash region in western Mosul, killing a policeman and damaging the vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban-led insurgents fighting the Afghan government set on fire a school and one clinic in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday. The militia in the first attack raided a primary school in Gobuz district of Khost province late last night, setting it ablaze and destroyed it, the police chief of the district, Bismillah Khan told Xinhua.
#2: Militants also burned a health clinic in Watapor district of Kunar province, a health official in the province Assadullah told Xinhua. The building, constructed recently, was burnt to rubble, he official further said.
#3: provincial spokesman said Wednesday that Taliban militants killed two male students for greeting a group of NATO soldiers in central Afghanistan, but the rebel website said they were executed for spying. Ahmad Khalid, 20, and Eid Gul, 19, students at a high school in Sayed Abad district of the central province of Wardak, greeted a group of NATO soldiers passing by their village in a convoy, according to Adam Khan Serat, spokesman for the provincial governor. 'The boys only greeted the foreign soldiers and spoke a few words in English with them,' Serat said. 'The Taliban militants later came and took the boys to an unknown location.' Their bodies were dumped near their homes in Sangi village, he said.
#4: The unmanned Predator aircrafts which have been targeting militant hideouts along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border are being operated from an airbase in southern Pakistan, a Times report has revealed. “Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is secretly using an airbase in southern Pakistan to launch the Predator drones that observe and attack al-Qaeda and Taleban militants on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan,” the Times said. The revelation is in complete contrast with Islamabad’s claims that it had never allowed its airbases to be used by the US led forces. Disclosing the details of the airbase, the report said that the CIA has been using the Shamsi airfield, which is about 30 miles from the Afghanistan border, for at least a year now. Shamsi, Pakistan
#4: U.S. forces killed at least one child, video footage obtained by Reuters on Wednesday showed, in an air strike in western Afghanistan that police say killed 12 civilians and U.S. forces said killed 16 militants. Video taken in the Gozara district of Herat province in the aftermath of the attack on Monday showed mangled, unrecognisable clumps of flesh -- all that remained of several people and dozens of animals killed in a tented nomad encampment. One body that was recognisable was that of a young boy. "The information we have is 12 civilians, including six women, four men and two children have been killed in the bombardment," General Ikramuddin Yawar, chief of police in western Afghanistan told Reuters. The Afghan Defence Ministry said "seven terrorists" were among "several civilians" killed in the strike.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
War News for Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from enemy fire south of Lashkar Gah, in the Nawa district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Monday, February 16th. Here's the NATO statement.
Pentagon Rethinks Photo Ban on Coffins Bearing War Dead:
Reported Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: A Sahwa council fighter on Tuesday was wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in northern Baghdad, according to a security source. “A roadside explosive charge planted by unknown men in Baghdad’s northern area of al-Adhamiya detonated while a vehicle belonging to the Sahwa councils was passing the location, wounding one fighter,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Diyala Prv:
Baquba:
#1: Three policemen on Tuesday were killed and seven others were wounded in a blast that ripped through downtown Baaquba city, according to a security source. “An improvised explosive device (IED) detonated inside a popular restaurant in front of Diala’s police department in downtown Baaquba city, killing three cops and wounding seven others,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Two successive roadside bombs killed two civilians and wounded another 10, including six policemen, in central Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said. The first bomb targeted a roadside food stand where police were eating. The second exploded as fellow police rushed to the scene.
#2: Two children on Tuesday were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near Baaquba city, according to a security source. “The device detonated in Hamreen village (13 km north of al-Saadiya district), injuring two kids,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The children are eight and 10 years old,” the source added, providing no further details.
Khalis:
#1: An Iraqi police colonel on Tuesday survived as assassination attempt in Diala’s al-Khales district, according to an official source. “Today, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near a checkpoint set up at the entrance of al-Khales district (15 km north of Baaquba) targeting Col. Hamid al-Luhaibi while he was heading home to al-Aswad area,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“There has been no word on casualties,” the source added.
Nassiriya:
#1: Security forces defused two roadside bombs in al-Refaee suburb, southern Thi-Qar province, according to a release issued by Thi-Qar police directorate on Tuesday. “The two explosive charges were planted on a road that links Nassiriya city to al-Refaee suburb (80 km south of the city),” said the release that was received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Baiji:
#1: A roadside bomb planted behind a caravan belonging to the Support Forces HQ in Siniyah district, 5 km to the west of the city of Baiji detonated, Monday evening killing three members of the Support Forces, injuring three others.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A car bomb exploded on Tuesday outside the home of a town councillor critical of militants in northwestern Pakistan, killing three people and wounding eight, police officials said. The device detonated near a room used by Fahim-ur-Rehman to entertain guests in the suburban town of Bazidkhel, just outside the sprawling city of Peshawar, the officials said.
#2: Afghan and NATO-led troops detained two insurgents in an operation in Tirzaye district, 150 km (95) miles east of Kabul. The suspects were involved in a suicide car bombing that killed two U.S. soldiers in Khost 0n Feb 10, a statement by NATO-led forces said.
#3: U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops killed five militants in an operation targeting an arms supplier in the Qala Gah district, some 635 km (395) miles southwest of Kabul, the U.S. said.
#4: Air raids against rebels' hideout in west Afghanistan claimed the lives of five armed insurgents and wounded 18 others including women and children, a district chief said Tuesday. "These raids carried out against Ghulam Yahya Khan, a rebel commander, in Karizmir village of Gazara district Monday night, killing five armed men and injuring 18 civilians including five women and five children," Alim Khan the district chief of Guzara told Xinhua.
Monday, February 16, 2009
War News for Monday, February 16, 2009
MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - Center soldier in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in Iraq on Sunday, February 15th.
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier during an indirect fire attack in an undisclosed province in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, February 16th. Reuters reports that a rocket hit a base in southeastern Paktika province killing a soldier. We will assume this is an American soldier.
Kyrgyzstan takes step towards U.S. air base closure:
Reported Security incidents:
Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb struck a minibus filled with Shiite pilgrims returning to Baghdad on Monday, killing four people and wounding 11 others in the latest of a series of deadly attacks targeting the pilgrims. The explosion rocked the vehicle as it pulled into a busy square in the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in Baghdad, said the driver, who refused to give his name. He said he was coming from the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of the capital.
#2: One bomb killed four pilgrims in a minibus and wounded 13 others in Kamaliya, a Shi'ite area of eastern Baghdad, on their return from Arbain, an annual pilgrimage that attracts hundreds of thousands of Shi'ites from Iraq and beyond.
#3: A roadside bomb detonated in front of a house in Dora neighborhood in southern Baghdad around 8:30 p.m. One person was wounded.
Diyala Prv:
#1: Separately, a police source in Diyala province said the police forces uncovered five decomposed bodies of male civilians, apparently executed about a year and a half ago, near a village some 30 km east of the provincial capital city of Baquba.
#2: Six policemen were wounded on Monday in a bomb explosion in the east of Mosul (?Mosul?), a security source said. “An explosive charge was detonated on Monday (Feb. 16) targeting a police vehicle patrol in Nada village in south of Mendli, east of Baaquba, injuring six cops, two of them who remain in serious condition,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Amarra:
#1: Three children were killed and seven others were wounded in a mortar shell blast in Amara city, a police source said on Monday. “The children were playing with a mortar shell in an area in Abu Rmana region in central Amara, when it exploded, killing three and injuring seven,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Mosul:
#1: Unknown arsonists on Monday set fire to five houses near Mosul city, but there has been no word on casualties, according to a local security source. “The houses are located in al-Haj Ali village, al-Qayara district (60 km south of Mosul),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“No casualties were reported,” the source noted, adding that the fire has caused damage to the buildings.
#2: Three persons on Monday were wounded when a sticky improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in southern Mosul, according to a security source. “An explosive charge planted by gunmen on the top of a policeman’s house in al-Mamoun neighborhood went off today, wounding him, his wife and one of his neighbors,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#3: A roadside bomb detonated in front of a house belongs to a policeman in Maamoun neighborhood in southeast Mosul. The policeman was injured with his wife and neighbor.
#4: A roadside bomb targeted an army patrol in Suq alMash in western Mosul. One soldier was killed.
#5: A roadside bomb targeted pilgrims who were in a ceremony for the Arbaniyah of the Imam Hussein at a Shiite mosque in Sada village in eastern Mosul. No casualties reported.
#6: Gunmen opened fire on a police patrol in Maidan neighborhood in downtown Mosul. One policman was killed and another was wounded.
#7: Gunmen opened fire on a civilian in the New Mosul in western Mosul killing him at once around 8 p.m.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: At least 31 people were killed Monday in a remote area of Pakistan close to the border with Afghanistan in what appeared to be a missile strike from an American drone, according to a government official and a resident in the Kurram tribal region. At 8.30 a.m. on Monday, four missiles struck compounds in Sur Pul near the regional center of Parachinar. The village was being used as a base by Taliban militants loyal to Mr. Mehsud and his local commander, Hakimullah Mehsud, accused by government officials of attacking NATO supply convoys crossing the Khyber Pass from Pakistan into Afghanistan. The dead on Monday were likely to include militants from South Waziristan and Afghanistan, the government official said.
#2: Three Afghan construction workers were killed in a roadside blast in eastern Afghanistan. Three other road construction workers were wounded in the attack Monday in the Sarkani district of Kunar province, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The statement held 'enemies of Afghanistan,' a term often used by Afghan officials to describe Taliban militants, as responsible for the attack, which happened in an area close to the border with Pakistan.
#3: Meanwhile, Mullah Dastigir and eight of his fighters were killed Sunday night in a US military airstrike in Darya-ye-Morghab village in the western province of Badghis near the border with Turkmenistan, the US military said in a statement.
#4: Meanwhile, General Mohaiyodin Ghori, an Afghan army commander in southern Afghanistan, said his troops, backed by NATO forces, killed eight militants Sunday in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province. The clash took place in the Khoshal area when a joint Afghan-NATO patrol came under fire from militants, he said.
#5: A rocket hit a base of NATO-led force in southeastern Paktika province, killing one soldier of the alliance on Monday, an official for the force said.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
News of the Day for Sunday, February 15, 2009
REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen (IRAQ)
Reported Security Incidents
Baghdad
A Multi-National Division–Baghdad Soldier died from a non-combat related incident Feb. 14. The Soldier’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The incident is currently under investigation.
Sticky bomb attack near al-Awla market in Sadr City kills 1 civilian, injures 4. KUNA gives the total injured as 6.
Series of explosions late Saturday night shock Sadr City. Iraqi Army spokesman later says they were controlled detonations of IEDs.
Bomb planted in Djamila, near Sadr City, injures 2 people.
Mosul
Hand grenade attack on a police patrol injures 3 bystanders.
Reuters reports several additional incidents:
- Gunmen shot and killed an off-duty Iraqi soldier in western Mosul.
- Gunmen killed another man in western Mosul.
- A member of al-Hadba, a mainly Sunni Arab party, was wounded in Mosul by a bomb planted in his car, police said. The politician ran in last month's provincial elections as part of the Hadba list in Nineveh, where the bloc received almost half votes cast.
- One policeman was wounded by a roadside bomb in southern Mosul, police said.
Abu Rouba, near Amara, Missan province
Police, acting on a tip, free a hostage, but the kidnappers escape. No explanation is given as to whether this was a political or economic crime.
Near Tikrit
Police say they have captured a man suspected of killing two army officers and a police officer. They say he is of Iranian origin.
Mandilli, near Baquba
One killed, 3 injured by IED.
Basra
32 people arrested in a security sweep.
Other News of the Day
AP reports that Election Commission chief Faraj al-Haidari has nullified the results of the recent elections at 30 polling stations due to fraud. However, he is remaining close-mouthed about where this occurred an how the elections may be affected. Excerpt:
He told The Associated Press that the polling stations where ballots were nullified were scattered in all 14 provinces but he refused to say where the largest number was found. He didn't say how many ballots were affected.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't supposed to talk about the vote to media, said the most widespread fraud appeared to have been in Diyala province, which has large Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish communities and an ongoing insurgency. . . .
U.S. officials have been closely watching the Diyala results for signs of friction between Arabs and Kurds, who are the biggest community in the far north of the province. The Kurds were hoping that a strong Kurdish showing in those areas would bolster their case for incorporating the territory into the Kurds self-ruled region.
Senior U.S. Army officers investigated for corruption during early phase of the occupation of Iraq. NYT's James Glanz reports. Excerpt:
Court records show that last month, investigators subpoenaed the personal bank records of Colonel Anthony B. Bell, who is now retired from the Army but who was in charge of reconstruction contracting in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 when the small operation grew into a frenzied attempt to remake the country's broken infrastructure.
In addition, investigators are examining the activities of Lieutenant Colonel Ronald W. Hirtle of the Air Force, who was a senior contracting officer in Baghdad in 2004, according to two federal officials involved in the inquiry. . . .
As part of the inquiry, the authorities are taking a fresh look at information given to them by Dale C. Stoffel, an American arms dealer and contractor who was killed in Iraq in late 2004.
Before he was shot on a road north of Baghdad, Stoffel drew a portrait worthy of a pulp crime novel: tens of thousands of dollars stuffed into pizza boxes and delivered surreptitiously to the American contracting offices in Baghdad, and payoffs made in paper sacks that were scattered around the Green Zone, the nerve center of the US government's presence in Iraq, two senior federal officials said.
Tens of thousands of pilgrims crowd Karbala to mark Arbain, in spite of recent attacks.
A UN report says that 43% of employed Iraqis are in public sector jobs, calls the situation untenable in light of falling oil prices. UN also notes that only 17% of Iraqi women are in the labor force. Hmmm. Whatever happened to the capitalist libertarian paradise Lawrence Paul Jerry Bremer, Dick Cheney, and the graduating class of Liberty University were creating in Iraq? -- C
Afghanistan Update
NATO says a second soldier was killed in action yesterday, in addition to a British Marine whose death was announced previously. No further details.
In Pakistan, the Taliban announce a 10-day cease fire in the province of Swat, to facilitate talks with the Pakistani government.
President Karzai says his government will join with the U.S. in a strategic review. However, details are lacking. The U.S. is currently engaged in various reviews of the operation in Afghanistan.
U.S. endorses Afghanistan's decision to delay elections scheduled for May until August, contrary to the Afghan constitution.
Quote of the Day
If there were jobs and factories in our country, why would we leave go to Iran? Afghans are punished, first by God, who has sent this drought, then by the warlords in Karzai’s government, who have built themselves luxury palaces. They never care about the poor people of Afghanistan.
Sayed Alauddin, a young Afghan man deported from Iran, discussing the mass exodus from Afghanistan's impoverished north.
