War News for Friday, December 21, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, January 20th.


Bodies formed to manage Afghan refugees in Pakistan

Afghan Political Crisis Grows as Legislators Vow to Defy Karzai and Open Parliament


Reported security incidents

Kirkuk:
#1: Security forces found on Friday two explosive charges planted near houses in west of Kirkuk, a security source said. “Policemen found the two bombs planted near houses in al-Dabs district, west of Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1-3: Militants have set fire to at least four trucks carrying fuel supplies for US-led troops in Afghanistan in separate incidents in southwestern Pakistan.

#1: The first incident happened in Qalat town, 160 kilometers south of Quetta, on Friday. "Three men riding a motorcycle intercepted the three tankers, threw petrol and set them on fire," local police official Lal Jan told AFP.

#2: In the second attack, two men torched another oil tanker of US-led troops in Mastung district, 40 kilometers south of Quetta, Jan added. According to the local officials, there was no loss of lives in the two incidents.

#3: In the third incident in Wadh town, 370 kilometers south of Quetta, gunmen opened fire on a US-led troops' truck carrying fuel. The truck driver and his assistant were wounded in the attack.

#4: A bomb on Friday killed two guards assigned to protect a provincial leader in southern Afghanistan. Amanullah Hotak, the head of the provincial council in Uruzgan province, said the remote-controlled bomb attached to a bicycle was detonated as his vehicle traveled past it. He said he escaped injury, but that two other body guards were injured in the blast. The incident occurred in Dihrawud district, a dangerous area in the south of the province.

#5: More than 10 Taliban have been killed during a 2-day operation in the northern Faryab province of Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a press release on Thursday. The press release said the ISAF-Afghan combined forces had launched military operations against Taliban in Khwaja Kinti village in Qaisar district of Faryab province on Tuesday and Wednesday, adding more than 10 Taliban were gunned down in the operations. The press release did not say anything about casualties to the combined forces.

#6: Meanwhile, the Taliban Thursday claimed to have killed four drivers, besides damaging three vehicles of a logistic convoy of the foreign forces in an attack in Andar district of Ghazni province. The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) their fighters attacked a logistic convoy of the foreign forces in Abu Kala area of Andar district early today, leaving its four drivers dead and three guards injured. He said three vehicles of the convoy were also destroyed in the attack. The Andar District Chief Sher Khan Yousafzai, when contacted by the AIP, confirmed the attack, and said one vehicle of the logistic convoy was torched in the incident. He rejected the Taliban spokesman’s claims regarding casualties and told AIP the drivers and guards of the convoy did not suffer casualties in the incident.

#7: Six people were killed Thursday when suspected Taliban militants ambushed a convoy of a Hungarian oil company in Pakistan's northwestern region, security officials said. The incident took place in the Kohat district of the militancy-plagued northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Khalid Omarzai, the top civil administrator in Kohat, told DPA by phone that four employees of the Hungarian oil company, MOLE, were travelling from Kohat to Peshawar, the provincial capital, when an unknown number of attackers struck. "One driver and one labourer from the MOLE company were killed while ... two engineers were abducted," said Omarzai. The soldiers from paramilitary Frontier Corpse chased the attackers and, during an exchange of fire, four troops were killed. The two abducted engineers were Pakistani nationals. An intelligence official, however, said that the four soldiers were killed during the ambush, not during a chase. "There were two vehicles in the convoy. One was carrying the oil company employees and the other the FC soldiers. The attackers attacked both. There was no chase," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.


DoD: Spc. Joshua T. Lancaster

War News for Thursday, December 20, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, January 19th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, January 20th.


U.S. Prepares to Lift Ban on Guantánamo Cases


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: One civilian was killed and 10 others were wounded in an explosion that targeted Shiite visitors in southern Baghdad, according to a security source. "The bomb exploded in Alwat al-Rashied region in al-Doura, southern Baghdad, targeting Shiite visitors, killing one and injuring ten," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: At least 13 people were wounded on Wednesday night by random celebratory gunfire after Iraq's national soccer team beat North Korea 1-0 during the Asia Cup tournament in Qatar, an Interior Ministry source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A suicide bomber drove a car into a police headquarters on Thursday in Iraq's volatile Diyala province, killing at least three people and wounding around 30 in a third day of attacks on security forces, police said. The bomber blew up the car at the main gate of the police headquarters in the city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, two police sources said. Ghalib al-Jubouri, a police spokesman in Diyala, said the attack took place in the centre of the city near government buildings, including the police headquarters. He said one of the three killed was a traffic policeman. A police source in Baquba said at least two of the dead were policemen, while four among the wounded were also police. "Ambulances are still carrying the wounded," said Faris al-Azzawi, a spokesman for the provincial health department. He said three people were killed in the blast, and 28 were wounded.

#2: "A roadside bomb went off targeting a convoy of Shiite visitors while passing Kanaan district in Baaquba, killing a civilian and wounding ten," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Karbala:
#1: A pair of car bombs blasted through security checkpoints ringing the Iraqi holy city of Karbala Thursday and killed at least 51 people, most of whom were Shiite pilgrims headed to observe yearly religious rituals. Authorities estimated as many as 183 people were wounded in the near-simultaneous blasts set off by suicide bombers driving cars packed with explosives. Ali Khamas, a pilgrim from the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in Baghdad, said he saw a car speeding toward one of the checkpoints, its driver refusing to stop despite warnings screamed by Iraqi soldiers.



Baiji:
#1: A roadside bomb went off near the convoy of Lieutenant Colonel Salah Mohammed, head of a police unit in Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, on Wednesday, and wounded two of his guards, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two people were wounded on Wednesday night by random celebratory gunfire in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, a police source said.


Mosul:
#1: “Unknown gunmen killed a civilian in front of his apartment in al-Yarmouk neighborhood, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: “Two people were wounded in a bomb explosion in al-Islah al-Zerai region, eastern Mosul,” the source added, without giving more details.

#3: Two suicide bombers were killed in a bomb blast in southwest of Mosul on Wednesday, a police source said. “Policemen opened fire on a vehicle while attempting to hit a police checkpoint in Tal Atta region, southwest of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: NATO and Afghan forces killed more than 10 insurgents in two days of fighting in northern Afghanistan, the alliance said Thursday. The operation in Faryab province was aimed at disrupting Taliban cells that have moved freely in the area, the statement said. The troops searched many houses without incident but were fired on from some compounds and returned fire, the statement said.

#2: No Bulgarian troops were injured in a Taliban attack on the Kandahar air base in Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry said on its website on January 20 2011. Two missiles were fired at the compound on January 19, one at 6.42pm and the second at 6.48pm Afghan time (4.12pm and 4.18pm Bulgarian time, respectively), the report said. There was no damage reported, or casualties among the personnel.

#3: At least seven persons were killed in Landikotal, Dara Adamkheil and Charsadda and three others received injuries at the hands of militants for spying against them and in cross firing incidents on Wednesday, official sources said. According to details, three dead bodies were recovered from Landi Kotal Bazaar who were killed by militants on charges of spying and supplying oil to the Nato forces stationed in Afghanistan. Law enforcement agencies officials said the dead were truck drivers. Two more persons were killed by the militants on charges of spying and threw their bodies in Bostikheil area of Dara Adamkheil. “A letter was also found with the dead bodies wherein it was the militants said that those spying for the US will meet this fate,” sources said. In Charsadda, two persons were killed and three sustained bullet injuries when two rival groups engaged themselves in a pitched battle. The injured were shifted to nearby hospital for medical treatment by the locals.

War News for Wednesday, December 19, 2011

The DoD is reporting a new death unreported by the military. Maj. Michael S. Evarts died from a non-combat related incident in Tikrit, Iraq on Monday, January 17th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in western Afghanistan on Tuesday, January 18th. This has been reported to be an Italian soldier.


ISI takes Mullah Omar to hospital after heart attack


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: An army soldier and a civilian were wounded on Tuesday in an armed attack by gunmen in western Baghdad, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in al-Yarmouk neighborhood, western Baghdad, injuring a soldier and a civilian, who were carried to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Five Shiite pilgrims were wounded on Tuesday in a bomb blast in northern Baghdad, according to a security source. “The bomb exploded today targeting the Shiite visitors in al-Mushahada region, northern Baghdad, wounding five persons, who were carried to the hospital for treatment,” he added, without giving more details.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A suicide bomber rammed an ambulance packed with explosives into a security headquarters on Wednesday, killing 13 people in the second major attack against Iraqi forces in as many days. "We have so far received 13 bodies, and are treating 64 wounded," said Firaz al-Dulaimi, a doctor at Baquba hospital, referring to the first attack on Wednesday morning in the Diyala provincial capital. The 10:00 am (0700 GMT) bomb in the middle of Baquba, a restive ethnically mixed city north of Baghdad, targeted an office of the Force Protection Service (FPS), the agency responsible for securing government buildings.

#2: A second suicide attack in a nearby town killed two others and wounded a top provincial official, shattering a relative calm in Iraq following the formation of a new government by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last month. About 90 minutes later in the nearby town of Ghalbiyah, a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-filled car in the midst of a crowd of Shiite pilgrims, killing two and wounding 16 other people, an official in the provincial security command said. Among the wounded were Diyala deputy governor Sadiq al-Husseini and three of his bodyguards, and two media employees of local satellite channel Diyala TV.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An unknown assailant has sprayed acid in the face of a prominent Afghan journalist and author in what officials and the victim say is retaliation for his politically charged writing. Razaq Momoon says he was walking near his house in a residential neighborhood of Kabul on Tuesday evening when a man ran up behind him and threw acid in his face. He says he was wearing glasses, which kept his eyes relatively protected. Momoon spoke Wednesday to an Afghan television station. He was not critically injured, but his face was splotchy with red and black patches as he spoke from his hospital bed in the capital.

#2: THIRTEEN Afghan civilians were killed when their motorised rickshaw hit a roadside bomb in south-eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said, the latest casualties of escalating violence in the near decade-long war. The latest incident took place in the Khoshamand district of Paktika, a volatile province bordering Pakistan. Thirteen villagers were travelling to the district centre for medical treatment when the bomb struck, the provincial governor's spokesman, Mukhlis Afghan said.

#3: At least one person has been killed and more than 15 others injured when a bomb planted in a horse-drawn cart exploded near a school in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar on Wednesday morning, according to local news reports. The lone person killed in the bomb explosion was reportedly a pedestrian. The reports quoted local officials as saying that most of those injured in the blast were school children aged between five and eight years.

#4: At least five suspected militants were killed on Tuesday after a U.S. drone attacked a compound in northwest Pakistan's tribal area, Dawn News reported. Officials in Peshawar, the capital of the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, confirmed the attack and death toll, but few other details were immediately released.

#5: Three soldiers were killed and three others were injured in a rocket attack by terrorists on Tuesday, security officials said. The rocket attack took place at a security forces camp in Razmak in North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan. “At least three soldiers were killed and three others were wounded in a rocket attack,” a senior security official said. “This is the work of Taliban,” he added. Another security official in Miranshah confirmed the incident and said that three soldiers were killed and three others were injured in the attack.

#6: Also Wednesday, a roadside bomb in southern Zabul province killed four border police officers who were patrolling the area, said Gen. Abdul Raziq, the commander for border police in the south. He said the officers struck the bomb in their truck while driving through Shamulzoh district.

#7: In western Herat province Tuesday night, a rocket hit a civilian house during a firefight between insurgents and NATO forces in the area, government spokesman Shafiq Berozyan said. One child was killed and another 10 people were wounded, he said.

#8: An explosion rocked the town of Spin Boldak district in Kandahar province, 450 km south of Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, casualties feared, police said. "A suicide bomber attempted to target security forces in Spin Boldak district this morning at around 11:00 a.m. local time but the police identified and opened fire seriously injured him," Abdul Razeq the commander of Border Police in Spin Boldak district told Xinhua. "The bomber before taking his last breath exploded his explosive device strapped in his body and died on the spot," Razeq added. There were no casualties on police and civilians, the police officer emphasized.

#9: Twelve Taliban insurgents were killed and six others injured as their explosive device went off in Afghanistan Faryab province 425 km northwest of capital Kabul, Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. "The militants were busy in making roadside bombs in a compound in Totak village of Ghormach district late Tuesday night but suddenly their explosive material went off as a result 12 militants were killed and six others sustained injuries," the statement said.


DoD: Cpl. Joseph C. Whitehead

D0D: Maj. Michael S. Evarts

War News for Tuesday, January 18, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, January 17th.


Pakistan’s Failure to Hit Militant Sanctuary Has Positive Side

In Afghanistan, Insurgents Let Bombs Do Fighting for U.S.


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: One civilian was killed by an improvised explosive device in western Baghdad, a security source said on Tuesday. "An improvised explosive device went off late Monday (Jan.18) inside a supermarket in al-Jameaa neighborhood, western Baghdad, killing the owner and damaging the supermarket," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: "Anti-explosives department managed to defuse another bomb, planted near al-Badiya school in al-Khaleej neighborhood in southeastern Baghdad, without casualties," he said.

#3: An improvised explosive device went off Tuesday (Jan.
18) near a civilian vehicle, wounding three civilians in al-Iskan neighborhood in al-Doura region, southern Baghdad," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: "The second bomb exploded in al-Sidiya region, southern Baghdad, targeting a police vehicle patrol, injuring a civilian and a policeman and damaging the vehicle," he added.

#5: "A Sahwa official survived an assassination attempt when a bomb exploded near his car, injuring two of his companions, who were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment," the source noted.


Iskandariya:
#1: One civilian was killed on Monday in a bomb explosion in north of Babel, according to a security source. “An improvised explosive device went off on Monday near a civilian vehicle in a al-Aasriya region in al-Askandariya district, north of Babel, killing a civilian and damaging more than five vehicles,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two children were wounded in a bomb explosion in north of Babel on Monday, a security source said. “The two children were playing with the bomb, from the remains of the U.S. war on Iraq, near their house in al-Buhairat region in al-Askandariya district, northern Hilla, when it went off,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Tikrit:
#1: A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vest in a crowd of police recruits on Tuesday, killing at least 45 people, officials said. The death toll was still rising more than three hours after police said the bomber joined a crowd of more than 100 recruits and blew himself up outside the police station in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, some 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Baghdad. Tikrit police put the death toll at 45, with 140 wounded. Dr. Anas Abdul-Khaliq of Tikrit hospital confirmed the casualty figures.


Mosul:
#1: Police forces found three female Yazidi bodies in north of Mosul, a media spokesman of the al-Shikhan district said on Monday. "Policemen found late Sunday (Jan. 16) three bodies of a mother, her daughter and her sister, on the road between Talkief and al-Shikhan districts, north of Mosul," Amin Khalaf told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The three women are from the Yazidi sect," he added, noting that this is the first incident of its kind in the region.

#2: Iraqi army forces found on Monday an unknown body of a young man in eastern Mosul, according to a security source. “A force from the Iraqi army found today a bullet-riddled body of a young man in eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan forces killed 27 militants and wounded 13 others in Taliban hotbed Helmand province in an operation on Monday night, said a statement released here by the military Tuesday. "The operation was launched Monday night against Taliban rebels in the districts of Sangin, Musa Qala and Gereshk during which 27 insurgents including two commanders were killed and 13 others sustained injuries," the statement released by 215 Maiwand Corps added. According to the statement, 13 militants were killed in Gereshk district, 12 others were killed in Sangin and two in Musa Qala. The statement also said 10 militants sustained injuries in Gereshk and three others in Sangin during the operation. There were no casualties on the troops, the statement contended, adding keeping pressure on militants would continue.

#2: An oil tanker carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan has been gutted after a bomb planted in the vehicle exploded in northwestern Pakistan, officials said. The blast took place late Monday at a terminal near the Torkham border crossing in lawless Khyber tribal district, local administration official Iqbal Khattak told AFP. "Around 25 tankers were parked at the terminal. Militants planted a bomb in one of the tankers which exploded triggering a fire," he said. It was not immediately clear if the bomb was a remote controlled device or fitted with a timer, he said. A security official confirming the incident said other tankers were saved and there were no casualties.


DoD: Pfc. Zachary S. Salmon

DoD: Spc. Jose A. Torre, Jr.

DoD: Sgt. Michael P. Bartley

DoD: Spc. Martin J. Lamar

War News for Monday, December 17, 2011

MNF-Iraq (OND) is reporting the deaths of two U.S. service members from small arms fire by an apparent Iraqi Army soldier at the Ghazlani Training Center, Ninevah province, Iraq on Saturday, January 15th. One additional soldier was wounded in the attack.


US service member killed in central Iraq


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Three civilians have been injured in an explosive charge blast in southern Baghdad on Monday, a Baghdad security source said. "An explosive charge, planted by unknown gunmen, blew off on the main road passing through west Baghdad's al-ilam district, wounding three civilians," the security source added.


Mosul:
#1: An armed man stormed a private hospital, and wounded a Christian doctor with a gun equipped with silencer, on Sunday in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: The governor of Iraq's western Anbar province on Monday survived at least a fourth assassination attempt in just over a year, escaping unharmed a suicide attack that left six people wounded, police and health officials said. Gov. Qasim al-Fahadawi, a former businessman who has friendly ties with the U.S. military in Anbar, lost an arm and underwent intensive surgery to rebuild his leg after a suicide bomber struck his Ramadi office in December 2009. Monday's attack took place in Ramadi, the provincial capital located some 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, when the bomber rammed his car into al-Fahadawi's 12-vehicle convoy. Al-Fahadawi was not hurt in the blast, but three of his guards and three bystanders were wounded, a police official said. A health official confirmed the casualties.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An explosion ripped through a minibus traveling in a militant-infested area of northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing 18 people, police said. There were conflicting reports of whether the blast was caused by a bomb or by the gas cylinder used to power the vehicle. The bus was traveling between the cities of Hangu and Kohat, which are located close to Pakistan's lawless tribal region. The explosion tore apart the vehicle, killing all 17 people on board, and tipped over a second bus nearby, said Hangu police chief Abdur Rasheed. One person on the bus that tipped over was killed and 11 others were wounded, he said. Rasheed said the blast occurred when the gas cylinder on board malfunctioned. But the top police official in the region said explosives were used to trigger the explosion.

#2: Unidentified assailants torched two NATO oil supply tankers in Qallat a district of Balochistan. According to the sources, the unidentified assailants first opened indiscriminate firing at the oil tankers at Sorab area of the district and later on, they set ablaze the oil tankers. According to the levy force sources, the assailants were succeeded in fleading the scene after the attack.


DoD: Sgt. Zainah C. Creamer

DoD: Maj. Evan J. Mooldyk

News of the Day for Sunday, January 16, 2011

Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

Roadside bomb attack on a bus carrying municipal workers injures 7. In a separate attack, 3 bodyguards of the Science and Technology Minister are injured. He was not present.

Bomb attack near the headquarters of the Badr organization in Kalamiya kills one of the guards, injures 4 people including a civilian. (You may recall that the Badr organization was the militia, now supposedly disarmed, of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, now called the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, the largest Shiite political bloc. Most of its fighters have been integrated into the government security forces.)

Other News of the Day

Since there were conflicting accounts about the incident yesterday in which two U.S. soldiers were killed, here is the latest account from AP. The U.S. military says a Sunni Iraqi soldier smuggled live ammunition into a training exercise, and shot 3 U.S. soldiers, two of whom died. The attacker was immediately killed by U.S. troops. Note the implication that Iraqi soldiers are not allowed to have live ammunition on U.S. bases.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Dawood Oglu is in Baghdad for high level talks.

IRIN discusses "enforced disappearances" in Iraq -- meaning that the government grabs people and holds them in secret, and maybe tortures or kills them. Somewhere from 250,000 to a million Iraqis have disappeared since 1980, but it didn't stop with the installation of the new constitution.

A recent Amnesty International report said “an estimated 30,000 untried detainees are currently being held by the Iraqi authorities, although the exact number is not known as the authorities do not disclose such information.” In addition, there are detainees held at secret facilities, at which torture is common, it said.

A further 23,000 previously held without charge or trial by US forces are currently being transferred to the Iraqi authorities or released, though Amnesty International believes “[a state cannot] claim to be treating detainees humanely while knowingly handing them over to torturers, any more than it can knowingly `release’ detainees in a minefield and claim that their safety is no longer its responsibility.”

Afghanistan Update

Nine civilians on the way to a wedding are killed by a bomb attack in Baghlan. A child is among the dead.

In a similar incident in Helmand, 6 civilians in a minibus are killed.

Afghanistan's fuel shortage deepens as Iran continues to restrict the transit of tanker trucks. Afghan Commerce Minister Anwarul Haq Ahadi discusses the crisis with reporters, and bemoans the failure of negotiations with Iran. The Iranians say they believe some of the fuel is going to NATO forces, but NATO obtains its fuel separately. The impact has fallen on the Afghan economy. Iran's true motives for this action are a matter for speculation. -- C

Quote of the Day

Obviously it's not possible to know what King, if he were alive, would think of any piece of U.S. foreign policy. But his political philosophy, as outlined in his landmark 1967 speech against the Vietnam War, strongly suggests that he would be an opponent of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and, for that matter, the secret wars in Yemen and Pakistan.

Remember, this is the speech in which King assailed the U.S. government as "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today." He targeted the "the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism." He opposed the U.S. for dropping "thousands of bombs on a poor, weak nation more than 8000 miles from its shores." And:

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

Justin Elliott

War News for Saturday, December 15, 2011

Reuters is reporting the death of a U.S. soldier while "conducting combat operations" somewhere in central Iraq presumably on Friday, January 14th


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A policeman and a civilian have been injured in an explosive charge blast in northern Baghdad's Aadhamiya district on Saturday, a security source said. "An explosive charge blew off in Antar Square of northern Baghdad's Aadhamiya district, seriously wounding a policeman and a civilian," the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, giving no further details.

#2: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol wounded four people, including one policeman, in Baghdad's southwestern Bayaa district, an Interior Ministry source said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: An Iraqi army soldier was wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast northeast of Baaquba city on Friday, a local security source said. “An IED blast targeted an army patrol in the area of Mandili, Khanaqin district, northeast of Baaquba, leaving one solider wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Two Iraqi soldiers opened fire on U.S. troops in the northern city of Mosul Saturday, wounding three of them, Iraqi army and police sources said. They said the incident occurred while U.S. soldiers were training an Iraqi military unit at al-Ghazlani U.S. military camp in southern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad. "Two soldiers from Iraq's 11th brigade, 3rd division, opened fire during training conducted by American forces inside a U.S. military base and wounded three soldiers," said one military source, who declined to be named. Another military officer and a senior police official confirmed the incident.

#2: A policeman on a leave of absence from duty was killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to his vehicle went off southeast of Mosul city on Friday, a security source said. “The IED, which was attached to the policeman’s civilian vehicle, went off in al-Nimrod district, (40 km) southeast of Mosul, leaving him killed,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: NATO says a U.S. Marine has shot and killed an Afghan policeman after an argument in southern Afghanistan. The military coalition said the two men had a dispute Saturday at a patrol base in Sangin, a volatile district of Helmand province. It says that after the dispute, the Afghan policeman reportedly made threats and handled his weapon carelessly. The Marine reported the behavior to his superiors. NATO says the Afghan policeman left his post, but returned and pointed his gun at the Marine, who shouted at him to put the weapon down. The coalition says that when he didn't, the Marine fired two rounds, killing the Afghan policeman.

#2: At least 16 NATO oil tankers were torched by unidentified attackers in Pakistan's Balochistan province, a media report said Saturday. The incident occurred Friday night in the Mangoli area of Dera Murad Jamali city in which one of the drivers was injured, while the fire also engulfed a nearby hotel, The Express Tribune reported. Sources said the attackers also fired gunshots and managed to escape after a crossfire with the police.

Gunmen in Dera Murad Jamali set ablaze 16 vehicles carrying fuel supplies for Nato troops in Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said. The convoy was attacked before dawn outside the town of Dera Murad Jamali, some 400 kilometres southeast of Quetta, the capital of restive Baluchistan province, local administration chief Abdul Fatah Khajjak said. "The attackers, riding in a car, opened fire on oil tankers parked at a petrol pump waiting for daybreak to resume their journey to Afghanistan," Khajjak said. Some 16 oil tankers caught fire, but two more parked a distance away were undamaged, he said. One of the fuel tanker staff was wounded by the gunfire.

#3: Seven Afghan taxi drivers were killed on Friday after insurgents accused them of spying for the government, forced them into a vehicle and made them drive it over a roadside bomb, a government official said. Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar, spokesman for the governor of southern Zabul province, said the taxi drivers transported people between Zabul and neighbouring Kandahar province. He said they were beaten by the insurgents before being forced into a vehicle and made to drive over a roadside bomb, adding that their taxis were also burned.

#4: An electricity tower was destroyed in a blast that took place Saturday afternoon near the city of Peshawar in northwest Pakistan, said local sources, adding no casualties were reported.