War News for Wednesday, September 01, 2010

The French MoD is reporting the death of a French ISAF soldier in a vehicle accident in the Uzbeen valley, eastern Afghanistan on Monday, August 30th. Two additional soldiers were injured in the incident.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier during an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 31st.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier during an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, September 1st.


3 Oxfam workers killed in northeastern Afghanistan


Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:
#1: A U.S. drone went down on Wednesday in a village northeast of Baaquba city, said a local security source. “The drone went down in al-Weesi village of the al-Miqdadiya district, 45 km northeast of Baaquba,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He explained that the drone was totally destroyed.

#2: A roadside bomb went off on Wednesday targeting the vehicle of a Kurdish official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in the al-Saadiya district, wounding one of his guards, said a local security source stressing that Iraqi forces arrested the bombers. “The blast occurred at the major road of Hay al-Taakhi village,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He explained that the Kurdish official was not harmed, but his vehicle was devastated and his guard was wounded.


Mussayab:
#1: Two civilians were wounded Tuesday in a bomb blast in northern Babel, a police source said. “A bomb, stuck to a civilian car, went off in al-Khedr region in al-Musayab district, north of Hilla, injuring the driver and another civilian, and damaging the car,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Nassiriya:
#1: One U.S. army vehicle was damaged on Tuesday when a bomb exploded targeting a U.S. convoy in southern Nassiriya, according to the media spokesman of the U.S. army. “A logistic support convoy was attacked early Tuesday (Aug. 31) by a bomb blast on the highway between Thi-Qar and Basra in southern Nassiriya,” Major Alan Brown told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion damaged one of the convoy’s vehicles,” he added, without giving further details.


Tikrit:
#1: Five policemen and one civilian were wounded on Wednesday when a roadside bomb went off near Tikrit city. “The blast targeted a police patrol near the Tikrit Bridge,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Pakistani government air raids have killed up to 45 militants, their family members and other civilians with no ties to the fighters, officials said on Wednesday. Three strikes on Tuesday night targeted Pakistani Taliban militants in one of their strongholds in the Tirah Valley in the northwestern Khyber region on the Afghan border. "We have reports that 40 to 45 terrorists were killed," a security official told Reuters. Taliban insurgents often deny official death tolls of militants. "Some of the families were living in the vicinity of these hideouts and they were also among the dead," said the security official. Rehan Khattak, a senior government official in Khyber, said six civilians, including women and children, were killed in one of the strikes and they had nothing to do with militants. "Four people were also wounded. They were members of Kokikhel," Khattak told Reuters, referring to a pro-government Pashtun tribe which dominates Khyber.

#2: A bomb attack Wednesday in Afghanistan's volatile southern city of Kandahar killed the director of the local office responsible for arranging pilgrimages to Islamic holy sites, police said. One other person was killed in the attack on Mohammad Hassan Taimuri and two people were wounded, Kandahar police Chief Sher Mohammed Zazai said. The bomb appeared to be a remote-controlled device concealed on a motorcycle which exploded Wednesday morning just as the director was leaving his office, according to witness Asad Jan Aghra.

#3: An official for religious affairs was killed by a bomb blast as he entered a government building in Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan, provincial police chief Sardar Mohammad Zazai said. Two people were wounded.

#4: Afghan and ISAF forces shot and killed one civilian and wounded another when the pair approached personnel who were conducting a medical evacuation in Marjah in the southern province of Helmand on Tuesday, ISAF said.

#5: Two women were killed when ISAF attacked a Taliban position with ground forces and air strikes after a patrol came under small-arms fire in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province on Tuesday, ISAF said. Two civilians were wounded and one insurgent was killed, ISAF said.

#6: Anti-government militants attacked a convoy of a private security company in Zabul province south of Afghanistan Monday night killing two guards and set on fire over a dozen vehicles, spokesman for provincial government Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar said Tuesday. "The Taliban rebels attacked the convoy of a security company in Shahr-e-Safa district Monday night killing two guards, wounding five and set ablaze 15 vehicles," Rasoulyar told Xinhua. However, he failed to identify the name of the company, saying it escorts logistic convoys of NATO-led troops in the province. He also said that all those killed and injured were Afghans.


DoD: Sgt. Patrick K. Durham

DoD: Spc. Andrew J. Castro

War News for Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The DND/CF is reporting the death of a Canadian soldier at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany on Monday, August 30th. He was wounded from a roadside bombing in the Panjwa’i District, southwest of Kandahar City, Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Sunday, August 22nd.

NATO is reporting the deaths of five ISAF soldiers in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, August 30th. News reports that a roadside bombing killed five American soldiers in Helmand province.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two additional soldiers in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, August 30th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, August 30th. This will be the Estonian soldier.

NATO is reporting the deaths of three ISAF soldiers from a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 31st.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, August 31st.


Restoring Names to Iraq War’s Unknown Casualties

Petraeus Finishes Rules for Afghan Security Transition

Leader Says Iraq Independent as U.S. Ends Combat

Obama speech on Iraq has risks

Civil liberties groups challenge constitutionality of secret U.S. program to target terror suspects for killing

"Non-combat" Iraq troops still get combat pay


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Two mortar rounds slammed into the Green Zone late Sunday. No casualties were reported.


Mosul:
#1: Two brothers were killed and one civilian man was wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on them in western Mosul city. “The incident occurred last night in the al-Isslah al-Zeraee neighborhood, western Mosul,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Tuesday. He explained that the two brothers work as truck drivers.


Tal Afar:
#1: Army forces killed on Monday a suicide bomber in eastern Talafar, a security source said. “Acting on a tip-off on the presence of a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt in al-Mazraa village in eastern Talafar, a force from the 3rd division of the Iraqi army rushed to the area and killed him,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol near a mosque in central Fallujah, at 11.15 p.m. Monday. The vehicle sustained a direct hit and was destroyed and all five policemen inside it were critically injured.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A rocket fired by militants slammed close to the office of United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in Kandahar province south of Afghanistan, injuring a guard, spokesman for provincial administration Zalmai Ayubi said Tuesday. "The rocket was fired at 10:00 p.m. Monday night. As a result, one Afghan guard of the UNAMA compound was injured," Zalmai Ayubi told Xinhua.

#2: Suspected Islamist militants attacked an army intelligence office Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, officials said, setting off a gunbattle that paralyzed parts of the city. Captured militant suspects were being questioned in the office at the time of the attack, two local police officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. It was not clear, though, if the attack was tied to the questioning. Bashir Bilour, a senior minister in the province, said the shooting began when militants tried to enter the building, but security forces fended off the attack. "They have been surrounded and so far there are no casualties," he told reporters. The area around the office was sealed off soon after the attack, which began about 6 a.m. Sporadic gunfire could still be heard more than five hours later, shutting down blocks of the city. Peshawar is the capital of troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where militants often target police and security forces. The area where the assault happened is near the American Consulate, but police said that building was not the target. TV footage showed commandos and police surrounding the consulate and checking vehicles.

#3: The shooting began hours after suspected U.S. missiles struck two vehicles carrying militants in northwest Pakistan and killed four of them. The overnight missile attack happened in the troubled Kurram tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The slain men were from Taliban's Haqqani network, which is blamed for launching attacks across the border against the American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, two intelligence officials said. The spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

#4: Meanwhile, on the southern outskirts of the capital, Kabul, a gunman opened fire on a busload of Afghan Supreme Court clerks, killing three and wounding 12, the Interior Ministry reported. Assailants on two motorcycles halted the bus Tuesday morning in the Musayi district, an area where insurgents are active, court spokesman Abdul Malik Kamawi said. One gunman then boarded the bus and opened fire with an automatic weapon, killing two people, Kamawi said. A third died later in a hospital.

#5: Also Tuesday, the coalition said it killed two insurgents and wounded a third in an airstrike Monday on a Taliban commander in charge of logistics in Kandahar, including the coordination of homemade bomb attacks. A number of Taliban and allied Haqqani Network commanders were also detained in operations Monday, including one recently returned from teaching bomb-making techniques in Pakistan, NATO said.

#6: In Zabul province bordering Kandahar, insurgents on Monday night ambushed a convoy carrying food and other supplies, killing two private security guards and wounding five others, provincial government spokesman Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar said.

#7: Afghan and foreign troops killed 18 insurgents during a gun battle in the Manogai district of northeastern Kunar province on Monday, provincial governor Fazlullah Wahedi said. Four Afghan troops were wounded, he said.

#8: Two Afghan children were killed when militants attacked an ISAF outpost in the Maidan Shahr district of Wardak province, west of Kabul on Monday, ISAF said. Insurgents fired three rounds at the outpost, one of which landed in the nearby village of Adamkhel, killing the children, it said.

#9: Three aid workers were killed and two others sustained injuries as a roadside bomb struck their vehicle in Afghanistan's northeast Badakhshan province, Mohammad Amin Sohail the spokesman for provincial administration said Tuesday. "The tragic incident happened in Shahr-e-Buzarg district on Monday afternoon. As a result, Mohammad Javed the office in-charge of OXFAM and two of his colleagues were killed," Sohail told Xinhua. All the victims are Afghans, he asserted. Another two people, including an employee of the office, were injured, he further said.

#10: At least six suspected militants were killed and another three were injured Tuesday as Pakistani military jets and gunship helicopters pounded heavy artillery on militants hideouts in Khyber tribal agency in northwest Pakistan, local sources told Xinhua. The air strikes targeted Ghaibee Baba and Sandane tribe's Sipah area in Bara district of Khyber Agency, local sources said.


DoD: Master Sgt. Daniel L. Fedder

DoD: Staff Sgt. James R. Ide

DoD: Spc. James C. Robinson

DoD: Pfc. Chad D. Coleman

DoD: Pvt. Adam J. Novak

DoD: Capt. Ellery R. Wallace

DoD: Pfc. Bryn T. Raver

DoD: Gunnery Sgt. Floyd E. C. Holley

DND/CF: Corporal Brian Pinksen

EST/MoD: Junior Herdis Sikka

War News for Monday, August 30, 2010

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an IED attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, August 28th.

NATO is also reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an unspecified insurgent attack in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, August 28th.

NATO is also reporting the deaths of two more ISAF soldier from an unspecified insurgent attack in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, August 28th.

NATO is also reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an insurgent attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 29th.

NATO is also reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, August 29th.


U.S. has blown billions on Iraq reconstruction

Obama Nears Pivotal Mideast Moment


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Hussein Salman, the deputy head of the Shi'ite Endowment, was unharmed when a sticky bomb attached to his car went off in Baghdad's northwestern district of Kadhimiya, an Interior Ministry source said.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: Gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint manned by Iraqi army and police, killing one soldier and wounding three other people, including one policeman, in Abu Ghraib on the western outskirts of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two children were killed in a blast from a hand-grenade in Kirkuk on Sunday, according to a senior security official in the city. “Two children – five and six years of age – were killed after they tampered with a hand-grenade they found in the district of al-Riad,” Brig. Sarhad Qader, the director of the Kirkuk Districts’ Police Department (KDPD), told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen threw three hand grenades and blew up a wooden cart as a police patrol was passing by, wounding 10 people, including one policeman, in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: One insurgent was killed as he was trying to plant a bomb in a small town west of Mosul, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Three gunmen were killed on Monday while booby-trapping a car east of Falluja city, said a local police source. “The incident occurred near a gasoline station in the al-Garma district, east of Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He did not mention further details, but said that the gunmen also planted two roadside bombs nearby the area.

#2: Two people were killed when a bomb in their car went off in the town of Garma, 30 km (20 miles) west of Baghdad, police said. Police said they believed the car had been equipped for a suicde mission.

#3: A roadside bomb wounded three policemen when it went off near their police patrol in the city of Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghanistan An Afghan district chief was killed Monday in a bomb blast targeting a security meeting in a key eastern city, the latest in a series of brazen but largely unsuccessful insurgent attacks in the volatile region. Lal Pur district head Syad Mohammad Palawan died when a bomb planted on his car exploded as he was driving into a government compound to attend a meeting of provincial security and political leaders in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, said police spokesman Ghafor Khan. Insurgents apparently planned for the bomb to explode inside the compound where it could potentially have caused far greater destruction, Khan said. Three of Palawan's bodyguards were wounded, Khan said, while the Interior Ministry put the figure at five.

#2: Elsewhere, Afghanistan's Defense Ministry reported four soldiers were killed and another wounded Sunday in a roadside bombing in Wardak province. A fifth Afghan soldier was killed and another hurt in a bombing in Helmand province's Nad Ali district.

#3: In the southeastern province of Zabul, 24 Taliban traveling by truck and motorcycle were captured while trying to cross the border into Pakistan, said provincial government spokesman Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar.

#4: Fifteen Taliban militants, including a rebel commander, were killed in fighting with security forces in Afghanistan, Xinhua reported Monday. The fighting took place Sunday in Wardak province, 40 km west of Kabul. “Taliban militants attacked a convoy of international troops in Lalam village of Syedabad district Sunday, but the troops retaliated killing 15 insurgents, including their commander Mullah Fazal Rahman,” said Shahidullah Shahid, spokesman of the provincial government. Rahman was a key Taliban commander in the area. There was no casualty among the Afghan and the NATO-led troops.

#5: At least four NATO supply oil tankers were completely destroyed by militants Sunday near Torkham in northwest of Pakistan. Militants attacked NATO tankers supply caravan with rockets turning four of them into ashes in Khyber Agency tribal area near Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Xinhua said, citing local media reports. No casualties were reported in the attack.

#6: Afghan security forces seized two trucks filled with ammunition headed for the airport in the capital Kabul, the Afghan intelligence agency said in a statement. It said the ammunition was illegal and was going to be transported outside the capital to an unknown destination.


DoD: Petty Officer 3rd Class James M. Swink

News of the Day for Sunday, August 29, 2010

An Iraqi police officers uses a bomb detector at a checkpoint in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010 (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) Note: These "bomb detectors" are completely fraudulent. The Iraqi government was conned into spending millions of dollars on these worthless devices and refuses to admit it, so they keep using them. See this article from January -- it's the same device. C


Reported Security Incidents

Note: For whatever reason, news from yesterday seems to have come out late. Most of these incidents occurred on Saturday but were not reported until this morning. Also, they have generally not been reported at all by western media. -- C

al-Djawaana village, south of Mosul

Gunmen attack a police checkpoint late Saturday, killing 2 police and injuring 1. One attacker was also killed.

Mosul

Gunmen attack a police checkpoint in Western Mosul, killing 2.

Tal Afar

A man trying to plant a roadside bomb is killed when it explodes accidentally.

Amara

A U.S. soldier is injured by sniper fire while touring reconstruction projects. At least we can be thankful it wasn't combat related. -- C

Falluja

Security director discovers a bomb attached to his car, police defuse it safely.

Other News of the Day

Asharq Al-Awsat discusses the latest wheeling and dealing. It seems members of Maliki's State of Law Coalition are threatening to bolt in favor of a broad coalition government. However, it is possible these leaks are intended to undermine Maliki. Much of the current infighting concerns efforts to force Maliki out personally while still putting the Shiite bloc in power. According to a source, "'Several leaders in Al-Maliki's coalition aspire to be the second candidate or the alternative to the leader of the SLC in heading the next government. These include Haydar al-Abbadi, a leading member of the Al-Dawa Party, and outgoing Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahrastani.' The source went on to say that 'such aspirations are kept secret or debated in private gatherings.'" This is all quite byzantine, go ahead and read it if you are interested.

Meanwhile, In an interview with Der Spiegel, Ayad Allawi is very worried about overall stability in Iraq, and possible repercussions beyond. I definitely recommend reading this. Here's enough of a taste, I hope, to get you to do so:

SPIEGEL: So your best case prognosis would be …

Allawi: … an Iraq with a balanced and inclusive government, which transcends sectarianism, starts political reconciliation, builds full-blown state institutions and security forces and creates an independent foreign policy.

SPIEGEL: And the pessimistic one?

Allawi: Iraq continues on its downward slide and becomes a failed state. If that happens the Pandora's box will open again and all the violence will reappear.

SPIEGEL: A relapse, in clinical terms, to the bloodiness seen in 2006 and 2007?

Allawi: Yes. But a relapse now would be much more severe, because we do not have multinational forces anymore which could contain a civil war.

snip

SPIEGEL: Are the Americans leaving too early?

Allawi: They have to leave eventually. They have been in Iraq for seven years and we have not achieved anything ourselves. Who can guarantee that this would be different another seven years from now?

snip

SPIEGEL: Your rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, claims to have established a strong Iraq and to be a strong leader.

Allawi: He is not strong. How do you define strength? Commanding one square kilometer in the center of Baghdad?

SPIEGEL: You mean the Green Zone, the highly secure government and embassy compound by the Tigris.

Allawi: From Basra in the south to Mosul in the north, demonstrations are raging. Services (like electricity, water and trash collection) are almost on standstill. Even the Green Zone is being bombarded on a daily basis again. We have an army without airplanes and without tanks. What sort of strength is this?

Dr Brian Jones was head of the UK Defence Intelligence Staff's nuclear, biological and chemical branch in 2002, says Tony Blair ignored repeated warnings that there was no concrete evidence Iraq possessed so-called Weapons of Mass Destruction, in the debate over going to war.

Update: This isn't exactly news, but the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction finds the U.S. -- read the Bush "administration" -- squandered more than $5 billion of your money (I'll bet you didn't know you ever had that much) on screwed up "reconstruction" projects. But we already knew that.

Afghanistan Update

Five campaign workers for female parliamentary candidate Fawzia Gilani, abducted on Thursday, are found dead in Herat.

NATO announces that 2 U.S. service members were killed today in Southern Iraq, bringing to 7 the total of Americans killed this weekend.

Roadside bomb kills 7 mercenaries, injures 3, in Salar area of Maidan Wardak province.

Dexter Filkins and Alissa J. Rubin report that Hamid Karzai is blocking investigations of corruption in his government. Well duhhh. Excerpt:

One of the country’s most senior prosecutors said Saturday that President Hamid Karzai fired him last week after he repeatedly refused to block corruption investigations at the highest levels of Mr. Karzai’s government. Fazel Ahmed Faqiryar, the former deputy attorney general, said investigations of more than two dozen senior Afghan officials — including cabinet ministers, ambassadors and provincial governors — were being held up or blocked outright by Mr. Karzai, Attorney General Mohammed Ishaq Aloko and others.

Mr. Faqiryar’s account of the troubles plaguing the anticorruption investigations, which Mr. Karzai’s office disputed, has been largely corroborated in interviews with five Western officials familiar with the cases. They say Mr. Karzai and others in his government have repeatedly thwarted prosecutions against senior Afghan government figures.

Quote of the Day

The Obama administration’s reluctance to discipline senior generals for comments bordering on insubordination seems to have encouraged the generals to believe they can speak their mind with impunity about President Obama's management of the Afghan conflict.

Ray McGovern

News of the Day for Saturday, August 28, 2010

Whisker is otherwise occupied today. -- C

Reported Security Incidents

Basra

Roadside bomb attack on a U.S. patrol, U.S. forces cordon off the area, no report on casualties. Wait a minute -- a U.S. patrol? But I thought . . .

Other News of the Day

President Obama, in his weekly radio address, affirms the end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq. I am truly confused.-- C

PM Nuri al-Maliki warns Iraqis to expect intensified violence by al Qaeda and Baathists in the days ahead.

$1.9 million worth of computers donated by the U.S. for Iraqi schoolchildren are auctioned off for $45,700 by the head of the port at Umm Qasr. "The U.S. press release was a rare public admission by the military of the loss of American taxpayer money in Iraq and an equally rare criticism of Iraqi officials with whom the Americans are trying to partner as the military hands over more and more responsibility and withdraws troops. "

Moktada al-Sadr apparently alleges that the recent bomb attacks "show that terrorists are reckless they also prove that they are agents for the occupier and they are acting this way to give him the pretext to stop its fake alleged withdrawal." This is a highly partisan Shiite news service and the English is not great, but this is what they report, for what it's worth. -- C

Afghanistan Update

NATO reports the deaths of 3 ISAF soldiers on Friday, 2 in the east and 1 in the south, without providing further details.

Taliban attack Forward Operating Base (FOB) Salerno and nearby Camp Chapman in Khost province, are repelled, suffering heavy losses, according to a NATO statement. TOLO News reports 2 NATO soldiers wounded in these battles.

Another poison gas attack on a girls' school, this time in Kabul, sickens 20 girls and their teacher. Reuters says 48 girls were sickened in the attack.

Reuters also reports ISAF said its forces had mistakenly killed two private security contractors after one of its patrols came under fire from insurgents in Wardak province, west of Kabul.

Quote of the Day

It seems we are once again walking into the same trap, the same nonsensical assumptions of wars won, missions accomplished, troops withdrawn, and jolly soldiers carrying cardboard signs of heart-warming messages like "Lindsay & Austin … Dad's coming home." . . . So what if the US army downgrades its military presence in Iraq and re-labels over 50,000 remaining soldiers? Will the US military now stop chasing after perceived terrorist threats? Will it concede an inch of its unchallenged control over Iraqi skies? Will it relinquish power over the country's self-serving political elite? Will it give up its influence over every relevant aspect of life in the country, from the now autonomous Kurdish region in the north all the way to the border with Kuwait in the south, which the jubilant soldiers crossed while hollering the shrieks of victory?

Ramzy Baroud

War News for Friday, August 27, 2010

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from an IED attack in an undisclosed area in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, August 27th.

NATO is also reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack in an undisclosed area in southern Afghanistan on Friday, August 27th.


G4S secure after £15m Iraq mine deal

'Five rebels, two guards' killed in Iran clashes:. Five rebels and two members of the Revolutionary Guards have been killed in clashes in Iran's Kordestan province near the Iraqi border, government newspaper Iran reported on Thursday.

Pakistan Flood Sets Back Years of Gains on Infrastructure

CIA making secret payments to members of Karzai administration

UN: 1 million more displaced by Pakistan floods


Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:
#1: The Diala police on Thursday arrested 25 wanted persons including an “amir” or leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), killed a gunman from the armed group, defused 14 improvised explosive devices and seized half a ton of a highly explosive material separately, according to a senior security official.

#2: Shimari also said that the police, in a separate incident, shot dead an AQI member while attempting to attack a checkpoint in the area of al-Kabba, Baaquba.


Baaj:
#1: Gunmen opened fire at an Iraqi army patrol late on Thursday, killing two soldiers and one officer, in Baaj, 375 km (233 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police said.


Shirqat:
#1: Gunmen killed three anti-Qaeda militiamen in northern Iraq overnight in the latest revenge attack against the force credited with turning the tide against the jihadists, police said on Friday. Another three militiamen were wounded in the midnight (2100 GMT) attack on a checkpoint in the centre of the mainly Sunni Arab town of Al-Sharqat, 290 kilometres (180 miles) north of Baghdad, a provincial police officer said.


Mosul:
#1: A child and a civilian were wounded on Thursday by an improvised explosive device in eastern Mosul, a police source said. “The bomb exploded on Thursday afternoon (Aug, 26) in central al-Muthanna market, eastern Mosul, injuring a civilian and a 9-year-old child,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the blast did not target any security patrol.

#2: Three army soldiers were killed late Thursday in an armed attack in western Ninewa, chairman of al-Baaj district said on Friday. “Unknown gunmen attacked a military vehicle in Jebrat Marman village, western al-Baaj district, northwest of Mosul, killing three soldiers, including a lieutenant,” Jassem Mohammad Hussein told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: One policeman was killed and 10 people injured in two consecutive blasts in Falluja city, Iraqi police sources said on Friday. Seven civilians were injured when an explosive device went off at midnight near a policeman's house in al-Golan neighbourhood, in Falluja, located some 60 kilometres west of Baghdad. Another blast took place shortly after police arrived at the scene, killing one policeman and injuring three others, sources added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A roadside bomb tore through a crowded market in Afghanistan's increasingly volatile north, killing three policemen and two civilians, a police official said today. Another 15 civilians were wounded in yesterday evening's bombing in Kunduz province's Archi town.

#2: Militants have attacked oil tankers carrying fuel supplies to NATO and US forces in Afghanistan, torching them in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. A group of unidentified armed men opened fire on an oil tanker at the RCD highway near the Lak Pass area of Quetta while another oil tanker came under attack near the Mongechar area of Kalat district, local police officials told Press TV. Gunmen also fired shots at another oil tanker near the Sor Gaz area of Mastung and then set it ablaze. The oil tanker was reduced to a twisted mass of metal by the fire. The tankers were on their way to the Afghan border from the southern port of Karachi. No human loss was reported in the incidents.

#3: Insurgents launched an attack on a coalition force combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province Thursday and the trading of fire killed four insurgents and one civilian. A press release issued Friday by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed the incident, which took place in the Darah-ye Pech district of Kunar province. The coalition force responded to the insurgent attack with mortar fire and called for air support, said the NATO press release. It said an insurgent round was observed to have landed short of its target, allegedly killing an Afghan civilian in a corn field.

#4: An Afghan police commander said Friday that NATO warplanes targeting Taliban insurgents killed six children in a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan known to be a militant hotbed. The alliance said it was investigating claims that civilians had died following the air strike on Thursday against militants who were attacking a military outpost in the restive province of Kunar, which borders Pakistan. Provincial police chief Khalilullah Ziayee told AFP that children were collecting scrap metal on the mountain when NATO aircraft dropped bombs to disperse Taliban fighters attacking a nearby base. "In the bombardment six children, aged six to 12, were killed. Another child was injured," the police commander said.

#5: A suicide bomber killed himself Friday in a market in Mansehra, a district in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, local sources said. The attacker detonated the blast near a mini cinema in central Mansehra, injuring several others.

#6: An unmanned aerial system of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) crashed Thursday in eastern Afghanistan's Wardak province. The ISAF confirmed the incident in a press release, noting that the force has recovered the crashed plane.

War News for Thursday, August 26, 2010

Flooding in Pakistan Spreads South

Key Karzai Aide in Corruption Inquiry Is Linked to C.I.A.


Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:
#1: Insurgents killed six members of a government-allied Sunni militia in an ambush northeast of Baghdad on Thursday, police said. Diyala police spokesman Maj. Ghalib al-Karkhi said the government-allied fighters, known as Sahwa or Awakening Councils, were driving near the town of Muqdadiyah around 1:30 a.m. when their car hit a roadside bomb. The explosion killed four of the guards immediately, al-Karkhi said. Gunmen then attacked the two survivors, killing them, he said.


Mosul:
#1: One soldier was killed and another one was wounded Wednesday in an armed attack in western Mosul, according to a military source. “Unknown gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in al-Maash market, western Mosul, killing a soldier and wounding another one,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A police officer was killed by mistake and another one was wounded in an attack in western Mosul on Wednesday, according to a security source. “A gunman opened fire on a police checkpoint near a fuel station in western Mosul, injuring a policeman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The forces tracked down the attacker and opened fire on him, killing a passing police colonel by mistake,” the source added, without giving further details.

#3: Four civilians were killed and 11 were wounded on Wednesday in a car bomb explosion in western Mosul, a police source said. “A car bomb went off on Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 25) in Daourat Abou Alisi region, western Mosul, killing four civilians and injuring 11,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The car exploded while a bus was passing near it,” he added, noting that a woman and a six-month baby were among the victims.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two policemen were wounded on Wednesday in an improvised explosive device explosion in southern Falluja, a police source said. “The bomb exploded this afternoon targeting a police vehicle patrol in Nahr Falieh river in al-Shuhadaa neighborhood, southern Falluja, injuring two policemen and damaging their vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A car bomb was defused on Wednesday by policemen in central Falluja, according to a security source. “Falluja police department managed on Friday to defuse a car bomb near a restaurant on the Baghdad street in central Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Army forces killed a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt in eastern Mosul on Wednesday, according to a security source. “A force from the 7th brigade of the 2nd division of the Iraqi army killed a suicide bomber who was targeting a checkpoint in al-Mithaq neighborhood, eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. This is the second incident of its kind in Mosul today as army forces killed a bomber driving a car bomb in al-Sada Bawieza region, northern Mosul.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Insurgents killed eight Afghan police in an attack in the country's increasingly volatile north Thursday. More than 10 militants attacked a police checkpoint outside the northern city of Kunduz, said provincial police chief Abdul Raziq Yaqoubi, adding they suspected the attackers were from Russia's restive Chechnya region who are active in the surrounding province, also called Kunduz. He said two or three of the militants were wounded when the police fought back. The militants apparently hoped to steal the policemen's weapons, but were beaten back before they could do so, he said.

#2: Also Thursday, a candidate in next month's parliamentary elections said 10 of her campaign workers were kidnapped while traveling in the western province of Herat. Fawzya Galani said she lost contact with the group at about 6 p.m. Wednesday. Villagers told her armed men had stopped the group and driven off in their two vehicles, Galani said. No one claimed responsibility and local district chief Nisar Ahmad Popal said it wasn't clear whether the kidnappers were political rivals or members of the Taliban, which is seeking to sabotage the Sept. 18 elections for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament.

#3: NATO also reported that three Afghan civilians were killed Wednesday by a homemade bomb in Kandahar's Arghandab district, a Taliban stronghold that has had a growing coalition presence.

#4: Two Taliban commanders were also killed Wednesday in fighting with a joint Afghan-Taliban force in neighboring Uruzgan province, along with 12 regular insurgent fighters, the Afghan National Police reported. Four insurgents were captured in the operation, the police said.

#5: Three Afghan civilians were killed when they stepped on a roadside bomb in the Arghandab district of southern Kandahar province, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

#6: A roadside bomb killed two Afghan soldiers in southern Zabul province, the Defence Ministry said.


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