War News for Monday, December 07, 2009

There were no ISAF fatalities in the last 24 hours inAfghanistan:


Iraqis Reach a Deal on Long-Delayed Election Law:

Millions' worth of gear left in Iraq:

US to launch new operation to hunt down Bin Laden:

No Firm Plans for a U.S. Exit in Afghanistan:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A bomb exploded at a school in Baghdad's Shiite district of Sadr City, killing five people, including four students, Iraqi officials said. The bombing took place at about 1 p.m. in an area where large attacks have been infrequent because it is encircled by U.S. and Iraqi security forces and has its own neighborhood security. The blast also wounded at least 34 people, said an Iraqi police official. A Ministry of Interior official confirmed the casualties.

#2: Six members of an anti-Al Qaeda militia were gunned down in broad daylight near the Iraqi capital on Monday, police said, in the latest in a series of such attacks. The militiamen of the Sahwa (Awakening) movement were manning a checkpoint in Nadeem village, 30 kilometres (19 miles) north of the Iraqi capital, when gunmen using silencers approached at around 9 am (0600 GMT) and shot them dead. "Five gunmen walked towards the checkpoint and opened fire, killing six Sahwa members," said local police officer Major Thamer Hussein.

#3: A civilian was killed and five others were injured in a bomb explosion in western Baghdad on Monday, an Interior Ministry source said. The victims were traveling in the Mansour district when an explosive charge attached to their car detonated before midday and caused the tragedy, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Some of the wounded were in critical condition, the source said. A witness told Xinhua that he saw an American-made-vehicle was on fire while an Iraqi army patrol was sealing off the scene to secure the area as ambulances were carrying the victims to nearby hospitals.

#4: Two civilians and two police officers were wounded late on Sunday when a roadside bomb detonated in the district of Zaafaraniya, apparently targeting the officers who were on patrol, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two bodies of Sahwa fighters were found southwest of Kirkuk city, a local police source said on Monday. “The two bodies were found this morning at a Sahwa checkpoint, around 10 km southwest of Kirkuk city,”



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: NATO warplanes pounded a Taliban stronghold in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, killing more than 20 insurgents and destroying a bunker complex, military officials said. Noor Akbar, a regional Taliban commander was among those killed in the raid in the province of Kunar, a mountainous region and Taliban flashpoint area near the Pakistan border, Afghan army general Mohammad Qasim Bitanai told AFP.

#2: Several other rebels were killed in operations elsewhere in the province of Paktika, also in the east, ISAF said without giving a figure.

#3: Hospital officials say the death toll in a suicide bombing in northwestern Pakistan has risen to at least 10. Monday's attack occurred outside a court building in the main northwest city of Peshawar. Police say a suicide bomber tried to get inside the building but blew himself up when confronted by security officials. Dr. Jamil Ahmad at the city's Lady Reading Hospital says at least 10 people have died, including two policemen, and 45 are wounded.

#4: Four militants were killed in ongoing military operations in northwest Pakistan during the last 24 hours, the army said on Monday. Pakistan security forces continued search and clearance operations in Swat and Malakand area in North West Frontier Province. Unknown armed extremists opened fire on the security forces who were on regular patrolling in Shamozai area. During the exchange of fire four militants were killed, the Inter Services Public Relations said in the daily press release.

News of the Day for Sunday, December 6, 2009

Iraqi policemen stand guard at a checkpoint in central Baghdad in June. Four Iraqi police who had been deployed to guard shoppers and vendors at a vegetable market west of Baghdad were among six people killed Sunday by unknown gunmen, government and security officials said. (AFP/File/Ali al-Saadi)


Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

Gunmen attack a police checkpoint in Abu Ghraib, kill 4 police officers.

Five Iraqi soldiers injured by a roadside bomb in Bab al-Muadham, north central Baghdad, late Saturday.

Driver injured by a sticky bomb in al-Adhamiya.

Police seize explosives and ammunition in Abu Ghraib area. I link to this mostly because the inventory of seized ammo includes "12 cannon balls." What century is this again?

Hilla

Six civilian casualties in a marketplace bombing. The story does not specify the number of killed and injured.

Kirkuk

Gunmen kill a policeman.

Iraqi soldier killed in a drive-by shooting.

Private security guard killed outside HQ of the National Unity Gathering (a political party) killed in a drive-by. It is possible this is actually the same incident as the killing of a policeman reported by KUNA, can't tell for sure.

In a separate incident, 2 police are injured and their car destroyed in a bomb attack.

Mosul

Former policeman killed in a drive-by shooting.

Other News of the Day

Amnesty International reports that more than 900 Iraqis face imminent execution. AI denounces the Iraqi criminal justice system, says that confessions are extracted under torture, and that the courts may be politicized. Excerpt:

The Iraqi authorities must immediately stop the executions of more than 900 people on death row who have exhausted their legal appeals and could be put to death at any time, Amnesty International said. The prisoners, who include 17 women, are said to have had their death sentences ratified by the Presidential Council, the final step before executions are carried out.

At least 120 people are known to have been executed in Iraq so far this year. . . .

One of those women facing execution is Samar Sa’ad ‘Abdullah, who was sentenced to death on 15 August 2005. She had been found guilty of the murder of her uncle, his wife and one of their children in Baghdad. Samar Sa’ad ‘Abdullah was reported to have blamed the killings on her fiancé, who, she said, had carried them out in order to rob her uncle.

At her trial, Samar Sa’ad ‘Abdullah alleged that, after her arrest, police in Hay al-Khadhra, Baghdad, had beaten her with a cable, beaten the soles of her feet (falaqa) and subjected her to electric shocks to make her “confess”. The judge failed to order an investigation into her allegations, and sentenced her to death.

Her father, Sa’ad ‘Abdel- Majid ‘Abd al-Karim, told Amnesty International the trial was concluded in less then two days, that he was not permitted entry to the court, and that Amal ‘Abdel-Amir al-Zubaidi, one of Samar’s lawyers, was ordered out of the court by the trial judge.

Salah Hemeid for Al-Ahram reports on the deepening drought in Iraq which has destroyed much of the nation's agriculture. Excerpt:

Experts at a conference held in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra last week warned that below- average rainfall and insufficient water in the Euphrates and Tigris rivers have left Iraq bone dry for a third year in a row. Drought has wrecked swaths of farm land, cut power supplies in most Iraqi cities, threatened drinking-water supplies and increased desertification, the experts said, the latter leading to the fierce sandstorms that in recent years have coated much of the country in brown dust.

Governor of Basra Hamid Sheltagh told the conference that only 30 cubic metres of water is currently flowing into the Shat Al-Arab waterway, which Iraq's second-largest city relies on for irrigation and drinking water. The shortage is threatening human health, agriculture and livestock, he told Iraqi and international delegates at the conference, with Basra having to "bear the unbearable". . .

Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture officials say that more than 50 percent of families working as farmers in the country have left their villages and migrated to Iraqi cities in recent years. Some international organisations are even warning that with time Iraq could become as barren as much of neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

The consequences of such changes are expected to be severe. In 2009, less than 50 per cent of the land was in use, and most yields were marginal. According to official estimates, Iraq now cannot cover even 40 per cent of its demand for fruit and vegetables, and next year alone it will need to import some four million tonnes of wheat at a cost of $1.4 billion. Overall, Iraq will have to buy some 80 per cent of its food needs next year.

Hashemi is still non-committal on whether he will again veto the election law.

Liz Sly of the LA Times reports on the influx of Kurds to Kirkuk and the ethnic conflict over the territory. Our readers are well aware of this problem but the story offers some detail and local color.

Afghanistan Update

ISAF says a U.S. soldier was killed on Saturday in a bombing, gives no further details. DPA also reports a NATO airstrike killed six "militants" in Laghman; that NATO forces also killed six people planting a mine on a road in central province of Wardak on Saturday; and that five Taliban militants were killed in a firefight with Afghan and NATO forces in Panjwayee district of the southern province of Kandahar on the same day.

Turkey will send no additional troops to Afghanistan.

It turns out that sending 30,000 troops into a mountainous country with few and primitive roads is not so easy. It also has quite the carbon footprint. Excerpt:

The Pentagon was able to deploy a brigade -- an army unit of up to 5,000 soldiers -- a month during the troop buildup in Iraq and Mullen said the pace will have to be slower in Afghanistan. The NATO-led mission has to rely more on supplying troops by air in Afghanistan and in the east, steep mountains make soldiers heavily dependent on helicopters.

An estimated 80 percent of military supplies come in through Pakistan, much of it via a single, vulnerable road that threads through the Khyber Pass and has been attacked repeatedly by armed insurgents.

From tanks to armored vehicles to helicopters and warplanes, the Afghan operation consumes huge amounts of fuel, with the military guzzling up to 83 liters or 22 gallons of gasoline per soldier every day. More troops will require more truck convoys to ferry fuel to remote bases, raising the prospect of more casualties as fuel trucks are coveted targets for Taliban insurgents planting roadside bombs.

Karzai says he'll announce his cabinet appointments within three days. The world is watching to see whether corruption and warlordism are purged from the new government.

Al Jazeera continues its coverage of the story of an Afghan girl who was raped, and now lives in fear of her attackers, and whose father has been imprisoned for seeking justice. "Eight years after the US-led invasion that was supposed to liberate Afghanistan, women are still living without the most basic rights, vulnerable to abuse and often deprived of education. "Nobody cares about women," Fatana Gailini, the chairperson of Afghanistan's women's council, told Al Jazeera."

Gen. James Jones says U.S. has no intention of leaving Afghanistan in the near future, certainly not in 2011." Glad we cleared that up.

Quote of the Day

If you closed your eyes during much of the President’s speech on Afghanistan Tuesday night and just listened to the words, you easily could have concluded that George W. Bush was still in the Oval Office.

Matthew Rothschild

War News for Saturday, December 05, 2009

There were no ISAF fatalities in the last 24 hours in Afghanistan:


Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline resumes pumping oil:

Turkish soldier killed in clash with PKK:

Bulgaria Confirms Afghanistan Commitment: In addition to the deposit, Bulgaria is expected to send to Afghanistan a second group of 20-25 military instructors to train Afghani forces.

Armenian peacekeepers to go Afghanistan in early 2010:

6 officers killed in Pakistan mosque attack: The dead included a major general, a brigadier, two lieutenant colonels, one major and a retired major, as well as three regular soldiers...

US envoy Rice says Geneva Conventions help America:

Armed men beat 2 local journalists in Afghan capital:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Five civilians were wounded in a car bomb blast in southern Baghdad on Friday, according to an Iraqi police source. “A car bomb parked on the Commercial Street in al-Sayediya neighborhood, southern Baghdad, went off, leaving five civilians wounded in an initial count of casualties and damaging several nearby stores,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Basra:
#1: The U.S. base at the Basra International Airport came under a Katyusha rocket attack during a late hour of Friday night but caused no casualties or losses, a local security source said. “A Katyusha was fired from the area of Abu Skheir, (15 km) northern Basra, targeting a U.S. base at the Basra International Airport,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He added that the rocket landed outside the base, leaving no casualties or losses.


Tuz Khurmato:
#1: Gunmen raided the home of Hazim Akbar, a Turkoman living in Tuz Khormatu district, to the northeast of Tikrit, early Friday. They shot Akbar, a 54 year old father of eight several times and ran off. Akbar died soon after he reached the hospital.


Kirkuk:
#1: Friday A gunman killed a civilian in southern Kirkuk, police said. No other information was available.


Mosul:
#1: A gunman was killed and another wounded while planting an improvised explosive device (IED) on a main road south of Mosul city on Friday, a local police source said. “Three gunmen were trying to emplace three IEDs on the main road in the village of al-Athba, south of Mosul, but one of them went off, killing a gunman and wounding another while the third escaped the scene,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: One Taliban militant was killed and five others were injured as they came in contact with police in Laghman province east of Afghanistan, a private television channel reported Saturday. "A group of armed Taliban raided police checkpoint in Sarkhakan area late Friday night and police returned fire killing one insurgent and wounding five others," Tolo reported in its news bulletin. One police was also injured in the firefight lasted for a while, it added.

#2: Up to 40 militants have attacked an army checkpoint, killing one soldier, a security official said on Saturday, after suicide bombers and gunmen killed dozens at a mosque near Pakistan's military headquarters. Soldiers at the checkpoint on a bridge in Wana, the main town in the Islamist bastion of South Waziristan, retaliated after coming under fire on Friday night, said the security official. "There were 30 to 40 militants who first fired rocket- propelled grenades at our post and then opened fire with AK-47 rifles which killed one of our soldiers. But we retaliated and killed six militants," a security official in the region, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. An intelligence official said helicopter gunships also hit militant positions in the battle.

#3: about 1,000 United States Marines and Afghan and British forces swept into a rugged valley in southern Afghanistan in an effort to finally secure what was once a bustling village but what years of fighting have turned into a ghost town. Journalists who accompanied the Marine-led offensive into Now Zad on Friday reported no American, British or Afghan military deaths but said several Taliban fighters had been killed. The offensive included troops carried to the battlefield by helicopters and by V-22 Osprey aircraft.

"The operation is continuing today in an area that had an enemy presence. We are going to disrupt that presence." Pelletier said there were no causalities among foreign or Afghan government forces and he could not be specific on the exact number of insurgents killed. British forces were flanking the Marines to the eastern side of the battle area, a spokesman for the British military in Helmand said, declining to say how many British troops were involved for operational security reasons.

#4: An accidental blast destroyed a shop in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least three people, officials said, unnerving a city frequently bombed by militants. Police said initially that a bomb had exploded near a fast food restaurant. Hours later two police officers and a local government official said it was an accidental blast. "We did not find any substance which indicated it was a bomb," said Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan.

#5: Taliban insurgents attacked the runway at a civilian airport in western Herat province, close to the Iranian border, with about 13 rockets on Thursday night, a provincial security official said, adding there were no casualties.


DoD: Sgt. Kenneth R. Nichols Jr.

War News for Friday, December 04, 2009

ISAF suffered no fatalities in the last 24 hours.


Bottom-up Nation Building: By Amitai Etzioni

NATO chief: 25 countries to help in Afghan war:

C.I.A. Authorized to Expand Use of Drones in Pakistan:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A civilian was killed and two others were wounded when an adhesive bomb that was stuck to a civilian car detonated near Babil hotel in Karrada neighborhood in downtown Baghdad around 7 p.m. Thursday.


Tikrit:
#1: A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed a police commander and four of his bodyguards in Tikrit, the hometown of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, yesterday, police said. The attack on a crowded street targeted Lt.-Col. Ahmed Subhi al-Fahal, head of Tikrit's riot police unit, while he was shopping. Seven civilians and two other police officers were wounded in the attack in the city, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: “Policemen found at 6:30am on Friday (Dec. 4) the body of a young man, Sabah Mustapha Ahmad, in Ghurnata neighborhood in central Kirkuk,” Colonel Kamel Ahmad told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the body bore signs of gunshot wounds to the head.


Mosul:
#1: Two soldiers were killed and two others wounded in an armed attack in the northern Iraqi province of Ninewa on Thursday, a local security source said. “Unidentified gunmen carried out an attack with mortar shells on a military checkpoint belonging to the army’s 4th Contingent, 10th Brigade, 3rd Division, followed by sniper bullets’ attack, in a village of al-Mahlabiya, southeast the troubled Talafar district, (60 km) northwest of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A child was killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near him in western Mosul city on Thursday, a local police source in Ninewa said. “A four-year-old boy was wounded in an IED blast in al-Tanak neighborhood, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosive charge went off automatically and did not target any military facilities or vehicles,” he added.

#3: A policeman was wounded by gunmen fire in northern Mosul city on Thursday, a police source in Ninewa said. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint in Nirkal, northern Mosul, leaving one policeman wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Suicide attackers stormed a mosque close to Pakistan's army headquarters, killing 35 people during Friday prayers as they sprayed gunfire at worshippers and threw grenades before blowing themselves up, officials said. At least four attackers took part in the attack an inside a heavily fortified area in the garrison city of Rawalpindi just a few miles from the capital.
Witnesses said two of the militants entered the mosque, which was popular with army officers, while others ran into buildings nearby. With reporters prevented from getting close, security forces exchanged fire with the assailants for an hour before they blew themselves up or killing them.

#2: A minibus carrying members of a wedding party struck an anti-tank mine in tribal area on Friday, killing three people and wounding 15 others, officials said. The blast hit in Chinari town, about 50 kilometres northwest of Ghalanai, the main town in Mohmand tribal region, which borders Afghanistan and has been the focus of a recent anti-Taliban operation, top local administration official Amjad Ali Khan told a foreign news agency, saying the death toll may rise.

War News for Thursday, December 03, 2009

There were no ISAF fatalities in the last 24 hours in Afghanistan


2 New York soldiers stabbed to death, a 3rd in custody: A Fort Drum soldier was arrested at a hotel in southern Ohio early Wednesday on a warrant charging him in the stabbing deaths of two fellow servicemen at an apartment near the military post in northern New York.

Roads were safer in Afghanistan under the Taliban, British general admits:

Italy to send 1,000 troops to Afghanistan:

Holbrooke criticises civilian effort in Afghanistan:

Afghanistan and Pakistan Rattled by Plan for Drawdown:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi security official says a bomb at a roadside market in northern Baghdad killed one and wounded six people. The official says the bomb was hidden inside a juice cart when it went off on Thursday morning in the primarily Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah.

#2: Unknown gunmen on Wednesday shot down a civilian in western Baghdad, according to a police source. “Unknown gunmen driving a civilian vehicle opened fire on a man sitting at a café in al-Toubaji neighborhood, western Baghdad, killing him on the spot."

#3: One Iraqi soldier on Wednesday was killed by unknown gunmen in eastern Baghdad, according to the Iraqi police. “On Wednesday evening, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a soldier near a checkpoint on Falasteen St., eastern Baghdad, killing him on the spot."


Kirkuk:
#1: Police forces have managed to safely detonate a booby-trapped car in downtown Kirkuk, according to a local police chief. “This afternoon, a police patrol vehicle found the car near al-Khulafaa mosque, downtown Kirkuk,” Brig. Sarhad Qadir told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “With the help of bomb squad personnel, police forces have managed to detonate the car after evacuating the area,” the official pointed out.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Ten suspects were killed in overnight fighting following a raid on a militant hide-out near the Swat Valley area of Kabal, Maj. Mushtaq Ahmed said. Troops had been led to the site by Abu Faraj, a militant leader who was captured in September and accused of plotting suicide bombings in the area. Faraj also was shot and killed, Ahmed said, declining to provide more details.

#2: Five other militants were killed when security forces repelled attacks on three checkpoints in the Bajur area that borders Afghanistan, local official Adalat Khan said.

#3: Also Thursday, a roadside bomb targeted a police checkpoint at a bridge near the main northwestern city of Peshawar. Police officer Haroon Babar said no casualties were reported.

A blast occurred at a police checkpoint in northwest Pakistan's Peshawar on Thursday, injuring three policemen, local TV channel reported.


DoD: Pfc. Derrick D. Gwaltney

DoD: Lance Cpl. Jonathan A. Taylor

War News for Wednesday, December 02, 2009

NATO is reporting the death of an American ISAF soldier in an insurgent attack in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday December 2nd.


Marines to hold hearing for officer on Iraq deaths:

Text of President Obama's speech on Afghanistan:

Obama Adds Troops, but Maps Exit Plan:

The puzzle for Congress: How to pay for plan:

Europe welcomes Obama speech but few pledge troops:

Poland to send some 600 more troops to Afghanistan:

Spain expected to send 200 more troops to AfghanistanRead more:

France, Germany refuse more troops to Afghanistan:

With Troop Pledge, New Demands on Afghans:

Taliban vow to step up resistance in Afghanistan:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: One civilian was killed and another one was injured in a sticky bomb explosion in southern Baghdad on Tuesday, a police source said. “A bomb, attached to a civilian vehicle, went off on Tuesday (Dec. 1) in al-Jamaaiya street in al-Doura neighborhood in southern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast killed the driver and injured the man sitting beside him,” the source added.


Diyala Prv:
#1: The U.S. military says an American airstrike killed one gunman after a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol was attacked northeast of Baghdad. The military says five gunmen attacked the patrol Wednesday as it was searching a building in the town of Sadiyah in the volatile Diyala province. It says the airstrike was called in following a firefight between the joint patrol and the gunmen. The military says at least one gunmen was killed in the airstrike and that two others were arrested.

#2: “Policemen found on Tuesday (Dec. 1) an unidentified body in al-Asakra village in al-Saadiya district, south of Khanaqin,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: Gunmen stormed a currency exchange office in Abu Ghraib town, west of Baghdad, killing the two owners and a customer on Tuesday.


Mosul:
#1: Two civilians were wounded on Tuesday in a thermal bomb blast in central Mosul, according to a police source. “A thermal bomb exploded on Tuesday (Dec.1) targeting a police vehicle patrol in Raas al-Kour region in central Mosul, injuring two passing civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A bomb exploded on Tuesday in eastern Falluja, without causing casualties or material damage, a police source said. “The bomb, placed in al-Karama district in eastern Falluja, went off on Tuesday evening (Dec. 1), without leaving casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide bomber struck near the naval headquarters in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Wednesday, police said, killing one navy official in the latest attack in the Taliban-troubled nation. The attacker apparently walked up to a checkpoint at the entrance to the heavily-guarded complex in central Islamabad and detonated his explosives when challenged by security forces, police and witnesses said. "One naval official embraced martyrdom while two other navy officials were wounded critically," Fazeel Asghar, Islamabad's top administration official, told reporters in remarks broadcast on local television. Bani Amin, a senior Islamabad police official on the scene, put the wounded toll higher, telling AFP: "It was a suicide attack. Four people were injured -- one is in a critical condition."

#2: One Taliban insurgent was killed and another injured as they came in contact with police in Baghlan province north of Afghanistan, police spokesman Ahmad Jawed Basharat said Wednesday. "Taliban rebels attacked a police patrol in Dushi district Tuesday night and police returned fire killing an insurgent and injuring another," Basharat told Xinhua. Two police constables sustained injuries in the firefight, he added.

#3: Afghan forces in conjunction with NATO-led troops raided a hideout of anti-government militias in eastern Kunar province leaving six militants dead, a press release of Defense Ministry issued here Wednesday said. "National and international troops stormed rebel hideout in Watapor district on Tuesday and killed six enemies including two commanders Matihullah and Tawab," the press release added. Airpower played effective role in eliminating the militants, it further said.

#4: Seven militants were killed and more than 60 suspects were arrested amid a search operation in northwest Pakistan's tribal area and all across the Swat valley following a suicide attack, local TV channels reported Wednesday. A suicide attacker blew himself up in the camp of a provincial parliamentarian Shamsheer Ali Khan on Tuesday, leaving him critically injured who later died of his wounds on the way to hospital. The security across the Swat valley was beefed up soon after. At least five militants were killed in security forces' operation against the militants in Malakand and as many as 50 suspected militants were nabbed during the search operation. Meanwhile in the nearby Khyber tribal agency, the Frontier Constabulary (FC) media cell said at least nine militants were arrested during the search operation in Bara area on Wednesday. Local TV reports said two militants were killed and two others injured during the search operation in Kurram tribal agency and three other militants were apprehended during the operation.


MoD: Sergeant John Amer

War News for Tuesday, December 01, 2009

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier in an IED attack in the Babaji area, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Monday, November 30th.

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Petty Officer 3rd Class David M. Mudge died in a non-hostile accident aboard USS Rentz while in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates on Saturday, November 28th.


Oil Companies Look to the Future in Iraq:

Obama Issues Order for More Troops in Afghanistan:

Obama faces steep challenges in new Afghan policy:

Pentagon targets inside threats:


Reported security incidents

Makhmour:
#1: Iraqi army forces on Tuesday found an unknown body belonging to a young man near a village in northern Iraq, according to a local source. “On Tuesday morning, army forces found a civilian body near Diyozanti village (32 km west of Makhmour),” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The body belonged to a young man in his twenties and bore signs of gunshot wounds to the belly,” the source pointed out.The body could not be identified, the source added.


Hawija:
#1: At least eleven people were wounded in two thermal bombs attacks in al-Huwaiyja district in southwestern Kirkuk, a local police chief said on Monday. “Eleven persons, including five policemen and six civilians, were injured on Monday evening (Nov. 30) when two thermal bombs were thrown on a number of civilians at the artists syndicate in al-Huwaiyja district, southwestern Kirkuk,” Brig. Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Kirkuk:
#1: A general from the Iraqi army's military intelligence service was killed in the disputed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Monday, police told the German Press Agency dpa. Mohammed Khader, 46, was an ethnic Kurd and a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two political parties that have for decades dominated Iraqi Kurdish politics. Armed men jumped out of a civilian car in front of his house in the eastern Kirkuk district of al-Nasr and fatally shot the general, police said Monday.

#2: An army officer was killed on Monday by gunmen in southern Kirkuk, a senior police officer said. “Unknown gunmen shot and killed Colonel Muwafq Mohammad, intelligence official of the 46th brigade, at al-Nasr neighborhood in southern Kirkuk,” Shirzad Moufri told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: An Iraqi army serviceman has been injured in an armed attack by gunmen in southern Kirkuk, according to a local source. “On Monday evening, unknown gunmen opened fire from a silencer-equipped pistol on an Iraqi army serviceman in al-Nidaa neighborhood, southern Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.The serviceman was wounded in the attack, the source pointed out.


Mosul:
#1: Unknown gunmen killed on Monday a security element in eastern Mosul. “Unknown gunmen killed on Monday (Nov. 30) an element from the buildings’ protection force in Garage al-Shamal region in eastern Mosul,” a police source said.

#2: One policeman was killed and another one was injured in a thermal bomb explosion in central Mosul on Monday, according to a security source. “A thermal bomb went off on Monday afternoon (Nov. 30) targeting a police vehicle patrol in Bab al-Beid region in central Mosul, killing a policeman and injuring another one,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Rabia:
#1: Gunmen in a car attacked another car and killed a man and wounded three other people on Monday in the town of Rabia, northwest of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. Both the attackers and victims were Yazidis, a pre-Islamic Kurdish sect living in northern Iraq and Syria.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Three members of a government-allied Sunni militia were injured in an attack on a checkpoint near the western Iraqi city of Falluja on Tuesday morning, police said. Gunmen attacked a checkpoint manned by members of the local Sahwa, or 'Awakening,' militia in al-Karama, north of Falluja, injuring three militiamen, police in Falluja told the German Press Agency dpa.

#2: A police force defused on Monday two bombs south of Falluja city, and arrested three suspects.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A police officer with Afghan National Police (ANP) were injured as gun battle erupted between Taliban militants and ANP in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province in the wee hours Tuesday, an official said. "It was 1 a.m. local time when militants attacked ANP check points in Dashti Archi district, and police repelled attack. As a result, an ANP officer got wounded," district chief Shikh Sadi told Xinhua. Sadi also said that ANP inflicted causalities on enemy, but failed to give more details.

#2: A teenage suicide bomber has killed an anti-Taliban lawmaker in his house in Pakistan's Swat Valley, showing the militant threat in the region remains months after a military push there was declared a success. The attacker blew himself up among guests greeting provincial assembly member Shamsher Khan in his house close to the main Swat Valley town of Mingora, police and hospital officials said. Nine other people were wounded, including the lawmaker's brother.

#3: A rocket fired by militants hit a residential area in Gorbaz district of Khost province in east Afghanistan, police said Monday. "The rocket fired by rebels hit a residential area Sunday night injuring one civilian," Bismillah Hashimi the police chief of Gorbaz district told Xinhua.

#4: At least 10 militants were killed in shelling of gunship helicopters in northwest Pakistan's Kurram tribal region on Tuesday, local TV channel reported. Pakistani security forces with aerial assistance of gunship helicopters attacked the hideouts of militants in Talosi area of Kurram region, and 10 militants were killed during the operation, the private channel ARY News reported. Militants fired rockets at troops near Makeen, the major militant base controlled by security forces, and the latter responded effectively, the statement said.

#5: An Afghan civilian was killed and three others sustained injuries as a bomb blast rocked Uruzgan's provincial capital Trinkot on Tuesday, deputy to provincial police chief Mohammad Musa said. "The bomb planted on a hand-cart exploded in a bazaar this morning killing a passerby on the spot and wounding three others," Musa told Xinhua.


DoD: Pfc. Michael A. Rogers

DoD: Petty Officer 3rd Class David M. Mudge