News of the Day for Sunday, March 20, 2011

Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

Roadside bomb kills 1 civilian, injures 7 people, including 3 police, in central Baghdad. A few minutes later, a second bomb injures 6 people, including 3 police. Aswat al-Iraq gives different casualty totals -- see next link.

Mortar attack on security headquarters in Baladiyat district, no word on casualties.

VoI describes 4 separate explosions late Saturday and (apparently) early Sunday, killing 3 and injuring 22. Attack on an army patrol in Aadhamiya kills 2 soldiers and one civilian, injures 6 soldiers an 1 civilian. Explosion in a road tunnel in Aadhamiya also injures 4 persons. Attack on an army patrol in al-Shaab injures 5 soldiers, and an explosion in Karrada injures 4 civilians.


al-Sherqat, Salhudin Province

Two Turkish nationals, employed by the Iraqi government to build a school, are kidnapped by unknown gunmen. (This strange policy of employing foreigners on government projects apparently continued. With unemployment at unacceptable levels in Iraq, it is difficult to explain. -- C

Other News of the Day

Director of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council says it has released nearly 13,000 prisoners in the past two months, either through acquittal or pardon. Large scale detentions have provoked demonstrations recently. It is not clear, but one suspects many of these prisoners were among those turned over to Iraqi control by the U.S. -- C

Hey kids! Did you know that Operation Iraqi Freedom began on March 20, 2003? Yes, today is the eighth anniversary of the day of Shock and Awe. It seems a few hundred people in California noticed, but hardly anybody else did. Down the memory hole . . .

Afghanistan Update

District governor of Burka, Baghlan province says NATO forces have killed 7 Taliban. A Taliban spokesman confirms the death but says NATO also suffered casualties.

British MoD announces the death of Private Daniel Steven Prior on Saturday. Prior was injured by a bomb in Helmand on Thursday.

Trainers from the U.S. Army Reserve's 98th Division will soon be deployed to Afghanistan. What is interesting in this Tolo News dispatch is the observation that "Officers in the unit find it more challenging as they think Afghan soldiers are not used to being under a unified command."

Joe Biden chats on the phone with Hamid Karzai. This Kuna dispatch also mentions in passing that a U.S. drone strike killed 1 civilian and injured 4 in Nangarhar. Hardly worth mentioning.

Two NATO soldiers of unidentified nationality are killed on Saturday, apparently by an Afghan security guard. No details are available as of now.

Quote of the Day

When Israel bombed Gaza at the end of 2008 in a brutal action which killed 1,300 people and destroyed 20,000 buildings, there was no question of the US allowing the UN to impose a no-fly zone over Gaza to protect its people, 50% of which are children.

Sasha Simic

War News for Saturday, March 19, 2011

The MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from an IED attack in the Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Friday, March 18th.

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from a shooting incident from an Afghani security guard in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan presumably on Saturday, March 19th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, March 19th.


Houston Marine sergeant killed in training flight

Pak air force at higher alert after US drone attacks: report


Reported security incidents

Jurf al sakhar:
#1: Gunmen stormed a house on Friday and killed two brothers belonging to the government-backed Sunni Sahwa militia in Jurf al-Sakhar in western Mussayab, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Baiji:
#1: A roadside bomb killed three shepherds in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad on Friday, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: An Iraqi lawyer has been killed by unknown gunmen in northern Iraq's oil rich city of Kirkuk on Friday, a Kirkuk Police director said on Saturday. "A group of unknown gunmen opened fire on a lawyer, called Mohammed Khalaf al-Azzawi, in front of his house south of Kirkuk, killing him on the spot, Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Eight Taliban insurgents were killed Friday night in Afghanistan's Badghis province, some 555 km northwest of capital city Kabul as NATO-led troops and Afghan forces pounded militants' hideouts, an official said Saturday. "Based on intelligence reports, a unit of Afghan and international forces raided militants hideout in Bala Murghab district late Friday night as a result eight insurgents were killed," spokesman for provincial administration, Sharafdin Majidi told Xinhua. According to the official, no casualties on combined forces and civilians were reported during the raid.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Christopher S. Meis

War News for Friday, March 18, 2011

The DoD is reporting a new death unreported by the military. Senior Airmen Michael J. Hinkle II died from a non-combat related incident somewhere in southwest Asia on Wednesday, March 16th. He was supporting the Iraq war.


Iraq weighs if US troops should stay after 8 years

Pakistani leaders condemn suspected U.S. drone strike - The drone strike killed many civilians, Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said in a statement. "It is highly regrettable that a jirga of peaceful citizens including elders of the area was carelessly and callously targeted with complete disregard to human life," the statement said. "Such aggression against people of Pakistan is unjustified and intolerable under any circumstances."

NATO Oil tankers’ entry in Peshawar banned


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb wounded three people in Baghdad's central Karrada district, an Interior Ministry source said.

#2: A bomb killed one person and wounded three others in Baghdad's western Iskan district, an Interior Ministry source said.

#3: A roadside bomb went the northeastern Ur district of the capital targeted a police patrol, wounding two policemen and one civilian, according to a source in the Interior Ministry.

#4: Two traffic policemen and one civilian were wounded in Baghdad's northern Shaab district when a roadside bomb went off, according to an Interior Ministry source.


Kut:
#1: Policemen seized on Thursday a car bomb at the northern inlet Kut, a police source said. "Police forces found on Thursday morning (March 17) a car bomb in Umm Heliel region in northern Kut," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The driver escaped as the police arrived," he added, noting that the car contains a camera and explosive materials.


Diwaniya:
#1: Two Katyusha rockets landed on a U.S. base in Diwaniya, with no reports on damage, an army force said on Friday. “Two Katyusha rockets hit the U.S. Echo base in west of Diwaniya, with no word on casualties,” the source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the two rockets were launched from al-Fawar region, southeast of Diwaniya.


Touz:
#1: Two children were killed and a third one was wounded in a bomb blast in south of Kirkuk, a security source said on Friday. “A bomb, from the remains of the former army, exploded in Qader Karam region, al-Touz district, south of Kirkuk, killing two children and injuring a third one,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Tikrit:
#1: Two shepherds were killed and another wounded by a bomblet of an old cluster bomb in an area north of Slahudin's capital city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, a provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A team of three Pakistanis and three Afghans who were working on a road building project in northern Afghanistan have been kidnapped, a local official said Friday. The five construction engineers and their Afghan driver were abducted as they travelled by convoy in the relatively peaceful north of the country late Thursday, the local director of public works told AFP. "Six people have been kidnapped, three Pakistani engineers, two Afghan engineers and also their driver", he said "They were kidnapped as they were travelling from Jawzjan to Sari Pul province to start their work."


DoD: Sgt. Travis M. Tompkins

DoD: Senior Airmen Michael J. Hinkle II

War News for Thursday, March 17, 2011

Reported security incidents




Numaniya:
#1: An explosive charge blew off against a U.S. Army patrol north of Kut city, the center of southern Iraq’s Wassit Province on Wednesday, a police source said. “An explosive charge blew off on Wednesday afternoon against a U.S. Army patrol in al-Numaniya township, 40 kms to the north of Kut, but losses were not known,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said the U.S. forces opened random fire and imposed a security cordon on the area of the attack, shortly after the incident.


Mosul:
#1: Eight civilians were wounded by a bike bomb explosion in central Mosul on Thursday, a security source said. "A bicycle bomb went off this morning at the center of a market in al-Dawasa street, central Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The blast wounded eight civilians, most of them suffered minor injuries," he added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: The international coalition said on Thursday that more than 30 insurgents were killed during an ongoing operation in southwestern Helmand province. The operation in the still restive province started two days ago targeting narcotics and weapons trafficking. Opium poppies in Helmand are a main cash crop the Taliban use to fuel their insurgency.

#2: The coalition says that in a separate incident more than 10 insurgents were killed Wednesday near a coalition base in eastern Kunar province.

#3: Four US missiles ploughed into a militant training compound in Pakistan's Taliban and Al Qaeda-hit northwest on Thursday, killing 24 and wounding several others, security officials said. A security official in Peshawar said the missiles struck a militant training centre in Datta Khel town, 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal area, which borders Afghanistan. "Militants were using this house as a training centre and used to meet here. They have recovered 24 dead bodies from the debris. We think the death toll may rise," said the official, raising an earlier toll of 12 dead. He said 10 other militants were critically injured and said those killed were believed to be members of the Pakistani Taliban.

#3: Two people were killed on Wednesday when a bomb exploded outside a Nato base in southern Afghanistan, setting fire to more than a dozen fuel trucks, police and officials said. Another six people were injured in the blast and a huge blaze is still burning outside the base, a spokesman for the governor of the southern province of Uruzgan said, adding that all the victims were Afghan civilians. Two people were killed and six wounded, said the spokesman, Melad Mudesar. Twelve trucks are completely burned, and the fire is still going. Mudesar said the explosives were concealed on a motorbike parked near the base, although other sources indicated they were hidden in one of the fuel trucks. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident.

#4-5: Two separate bomb attacks on paramilitary convoys in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Thursday killed four people including three soldiers, officials said.

#4: The separatist Baloch Republican Army claimed responsibility for the first attack, in which a remotely-detonated roadside bomb hit a convoy in Naseerabad district, 430 kilometres southeast of Quetta. “Two soldiers and a passer-by were killed and seven others were wounded. One vehicle was also badly damaged,” Abdul Jabbar Jatoi, a senior administrative official told AFP.

#5: A second bomb, planted in a car and also detonated remotely, went off later in the outskirts of Quetta, killing another soldier and wounding three others, police said. “One soldier died in hospital, three others are under medical treatment,” Hasan Buzdar, a police official in Quetta told AFP.

War News for Wednesday, March 16, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, March 15th.


Canada prepares to pack everything for Kandahar pullout

Poll: Nearly two-thirds of Americans say Afghan war isn’t worth fighting


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: At least 3 civilians and 4 policemen have been injured in two improvised explosive device (IED) blasts close to southwestern Baghdad’s al-Rashid markets on Tuesday, a security source said. “Two IEDs blew up close to al-Rashid markets in southwestern Baghdad’s Daura district, wounding 3 civilians and 4 policemen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that the IEDs were targeted against a police patrol in the area.

In a separate incident, a policeman and a civilian were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol on a highway that passes through New Baghdad district in southeastern the capital, the source said.

#2: Policemen defused seven bombs in separate areas in Baghdad in the past 24 hours, the Baghdad Operations Command said on Tuesday. "Policemen defused six explosive charges and a sticky bomb, in addition to seizing a big depot in the past 24 hours," the BOC said in a statement on its website.

#3: “An IED blew off in central Baghdad’s Karrada district on Wednesday, wounding 6 civilians, who were driven to hospitals,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: He said that another IED blew off in east Baghdad’s Zayouna district, wounding 2 civilians who were taken to a hospital, also causing damage to several shops close to the venue of the blast.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A police officer had been killed and his wife was seriously injured in an explosive charge blast in his car in northeast Iraq’s Diala Province on Tuesday night, a Diala Police source said. “A police officer, working with the Explosives Unit of Diala Police, was killed and his wife was injured, in an explosive charge blast on his car in new Baaquba district in Diala Province on Tuesday night,” the police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: In Diyala, unidentified gunmen stormed the house of an anti- Qaida paramilitary group member, known as Awakening Council group, in a village near the town of Buhruz, south of the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, a provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The gunmen shot dead the group member and wounded his wife, the source said. Iraqi security forces in the area chased the fleeing attackers and traded fire with them, killing one while the others escaped in the surrounding orchards, the source added.


Basra:
#1: A U.S. Army patrol had been attacked by an improvised explosive device (IED) in southern Iraq’s city of Basra, causing no human or material losses, a Basra security source said on Tuesday. “An IED blew up against a U.S. Army patrol on the Hamdan Road, 10 kms south of Basra on Tuesday, but caused no human or material damage,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Baaj:
#1: Five Yazidis were kidnapped on Tuesday by gunmen in military uniform in west of Mosul, according to a security source. "Gunmen in military uniforms kidnapped five Yazidis near a village in al-Baaj district, west of Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the gunmen attacked three cars, kidnapping the men and left women.


Kirkuk:
#1: A police spokesman says a car bombing in a northern Iraqi city rife with ethnic tensions has killed three people and wounded 18. Kirkuk city police spokesman Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir says the car was parked near a hospital and government office when it exploded around 9 a.m. on Wednesday. He says the attack appeared aimed at the city’s Kurdish director of water and sewage.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An American missile attack Wednesday killed five people in a northwestern region of Pakistan that is under effective Islamist militant control, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The missile destroyed a house in the North Waziristan region close to the Afghan border, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations of their agency. The identities of the victims or the details of the strike were not known.

#2: One person was killed when unknown gunmen opened fire at Nato tankers in Balochistan province’s Mastung area on Wednesday, DawnNews reported. Four tankers were set ablaze in the attack.


DoD: Pfc. Arturo E. Rodriguez

The Ides of March 15, 2011

Another Georgian serviceman killed in Afghanistan

Iraq- Repairs in damaged oil pipeline completed


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: One man was wounded in Baghdad's central Karrada district by a roadside bomb, an Interior Ministry source said.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded two people in Baghdad's southern Doura district, an Interior Ministry source said.

#3: A double bombing in southern Baghdad wounded head of Al Saydiya Police Station and three security guards, a police source said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Policemen found this afternoon an unknown bullet-riddled corpse of a man near Bash Blagh village in Qurat Hanjier district, north of Kirkuk,” Colonel Othman Abdullah told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A policeman was killed on Monday by gunmen in west of Mosul, a security source said. "Unknown gunmen shot and killed a cop using guns with silencers near his house in Talafar, west of Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two civilians were wounded on Monday in two explosions in the city of Falluja, a security source said. “An explosive charge went off near a policeman’s house in al-Joulan region, north of Falluja, injuring two civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: “Another bomb exploded targeting a police vehicle patrol in central Falluja, without leaving casualties,” the same source said.

#3: Three civilians and a policeman were killed on Monday by gunmen in west of Anbar, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen killed three civilians and a policeman while on hunting trip in the western desert in al-Ratba district, west of Anbar,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An Afghan government spokesman says a local provincial council member in the northeast of the country has been killed by a bomb while walking near his home. Spokesman Kochai Nasery says the explosion took place on Tuesday morning in the capital of Laghman province. The remotely detonated bomb killed the local official, Malang Malik, and also wounded a relative of his.

#2: In neighboring Nangarhar province, government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai says a bomb blast inside a school in the Behsud district killed principal Bahram Khail Salehi and wounded another school employee as children were arriving for classes on Tuesday morning.

#3: The Finnish Defence Forces said in a statement Tuesday that a Finnish soldier has been wounded by the accidental discharge of an automatic grenade launcher in Mazar-i-Sharif. The soldier was hit by a Finnish grenade early Tuesday morning as the Finnish troops were leaving for a firing exercise. The projectile did not explode. The soldier did not sustain serious injuries but is currently receiving treatment at an on site German field hospital.

#4: Unidentified armed men torched two NATO containers carrying military hardware for ISAF and NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan in Surab area of Kalat on Monday. According to levies sources, the containers carrying military hardware for NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan were going to Chaman town from Karachi when some unidentified men opened fire on them. The attackers made the driver and cleaner hostage at gunpoint and set the both the containers on fire and managed to escape from the scene. Levies Forces rushed to the spot after being informed by the local people. “The two containers were completely destroyed and no casualty was reported in the attack,” levies official said.

#5: Meanwhile, in separate accidents, two NATO oil tankers were overturned near Chaman and Kuchlak. The incidents took place due to over-speeding and reckless driving, due to which hundreds litres of oil spilled over on the road.

#6: Pakistani Taliban killed three pro-government volunteers in a tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said Tuesday. The bullet-ridden bodies of the volunteers, who were kidnapped last week after attack on their checkpoint, were found in Mohmand tribal agency on Tuesday. Bodies of the slain men were found near a canal at Gadakhel area, 40 kilometers from Ghalanai, center of Mohmand agency.

#7: At least six militants were killed and many others injured on Tuesday morning in a shootout between militants and security forces in northwestern region of Pakistan, said security sources. According to security officials, some unknown number of militants attacked a security check post with automatic guns and hand grenades in Hangu district and injured some local policemen. Security personnel at nearby check posts responded with fire and killed six militants and injured many others.

#8: While in another incident, some gunmen opened fire at a police mobile and killed two policemen and injured another in Mardan city in Pakistan's northwestern province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.


News: Corporal Valeri Verskiani

DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Daehan Park

DoD: Cpl. Ian M. Muller

War News for Monday, March 14, 2011

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, March 12th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, March 12th.


Two Ex-Blackwater Workers Convicted in Fed Court in Fatal Shooting in Afghanistan


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: One civilian was killed and two others were wounded in western Baghdad's al-Amriya neighborhood after a roadside bomb blast, police said.

#2-4: Eight other people were wounded earlier Monday when three roadside bombs exploded in Baghdad neighborhoods, the interior ministry said.

#2: Five persons, including 3 policemen, have been injured in an explosion in east Baghdad early on Monday, a security source said. "An improvised explosive device (IED) blew up against a police patrol in east Baghdad's Canal Street, wounding 3 policemen and 2 civilians, who were driven to hospital for treatment, the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, giving no further details.


Diyala Prv:
#1: A suicide bombing at an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad killed at least 10 people and wounded 25 others Monday, police said. Most of the dead and wounded were Iraqi soldiers, according to Baquba police, who said the truck bomber ran into a barracks. Police combed through the rubble of the building looking for victims. The attack took place in the town of Kanan about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Baquba in Diyala province, which is ethnically mixed.


Tikrit:
#1: Clashes in a prison, central Tikrit, in Salahuddin province wounded 15 people including a senior officer. Two prisoners were killed and 14 others were wounded due to riots that erupted on Sunday in the prison, media reported. After negotiating with prisoners, they were transported to the prison of former President Saddam Hussein’s castle since the building they were occupying is no longer fit for use, a police source told Alsumaria News.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan officials say a suicide bomber has killed more than 33 people at an Afghan army recruiting centre in the northern province of Kunduz. Kunduz Deputy Governor Hamdullah Danishi says the attacker approached on foot and detonated a bomb on Monday afternoon as recruits lined up outside the centre. He says at least 42 people were also wounded in the blast.

#2: An American missile killed two Arab militants and two local fighters as they traveled in a vehicle close to the Afghan border on Monday, the fourth such attack in the space of 24 hours in the region, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The vehicle was laden with explosives when it was struck in the village of Malik Jashdar in North Waziristan, said the officials.

#3: Five civilians were killed by a bomb in Sharshark village in the southern province of Helmand on Sunday evening, the Government Media and Information Centre said in a statement. The civilians were returning from a poppy eradication campaign when the vehicle they were travelling was hit in Marjah district in the volatile province, killing all five in the vehicle, the statement said.

#4: In a separate attack, one civilian was killed and three others were wounded early Monday by a roadside bomb in the Siah Sang area of the eastern province of Nangarhar, a statement from the Interior Ministry said.

#5: In another incident, in south-eastern Afghanistan, a rocket was fired by the 'enemies of peace and stability' in Koch-e-Baba Tahir area in Ghazni province, the statement said. No casualties were recorded but the police launched an investigation into the case, it said.

#6: NATO air raids against militants left five insurgents dead in Afghanistan's Kunar province, some 185 km east of capital city of Kabul, a press release issued by NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Monday. "Coalition forces killed five insurgents after they observed an imminent threat from armed individuals at a historic insurgent fighting position in Ghazi Abad district, Kunar province." the press release said. Without giving the exact time for the attack, the press release added that coalition forces on the ground monitored the five insurgents for several hours to ensure positive identification and intent of the individuals prior to requesting the close air support to engage. "The insurgents killed were in possession of automatic weapons and were digging to emplace a mortar tube,"


DoD: Pfc. Andrew M. Harper