War News for Wednesday, December 07, 2011

The DoD is reporting a new death unreported by the military. Sgt. Ryan D. Sharp died Saturday, December 3rd at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany. He was originally wounded from an IED blast in Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Monday, November 21st.


Nato blockade enters 12th day, US reroutes supplies

U.S. military base in Iraq gets new mission


Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:
#1: A roadside bomb killed a policeman and wounded another in the northestern outskirts of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: Two mortar rounds landed near a Shi'ite mosque where pilgrims were gathering to commemorate a major religious ritual in the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding eight, including a policeman, police said.


Mosul:
#1: A member of the Kurdish security forces was wounded when a roadside bomb targeting his patrol went off near the city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Tal Afar:
#1: A Katyusha rocket landed at the Kurdistan Democratic Party headquarters in Tal Afar, about 420 km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, and wounded one guards, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Twelve people were killed Wednesday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, a provincial government spokesman said. “Twelve civilians, among them women and children, were killed today when their van hit in a roadside bomb,” said Daud Ahmadi. He added that the civilians were travelling from provincial capital Lashkar Gah to Sangin district when the blast took place.

#2: Officials in the ministry of defense of Afghanistan following a statement said, at least three militants were killed and 27 other suspects were detained by Afghan security forces following military operations across the country during the past 24 hours. The source further added, the operations were conducted in southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces, western Herat province and eastern Paktiya province during the past 24 hours.

#3: The body of a paramilitary soldier kidnapped in August by militants during a cross-border attack on Pakistani troops was found in the northwestern Chitral region near the border with Afghanistan, military officials said.

#4: A small roadside bomb exploded on a bridge in the southern city of Karachi, wounding two people, police officials said.

#5: Militants fired six rocket-propelled grenades from hilltops at buildings in the northwestern town of Hangu, wounding three policemen, police officials said.

#6: Militants fired four RPGs that exploded near a Shi'ite Ashura procession in the town of Kalaya in northwestern Orakzai tribal region, security officials said. There were no casualties.

#7: Twelve militants and two Pakistani soldiers were killed in overnight clashes in the northwestern tribal region of Kurram on the Afghan border, security officials said.

#8: Three security officials with the Afghan intelligence agency were injured Wednesday when a motorcycle bomb went off in the country's southern Uruzgan province, police said. The blast happened at around 01:30 p.m. local time Wednesday in Dihrawud district when a vehicle carrying head of intelligence department of the district namely Ghulam Mohiudin, was passing by, police chief of the district Omar Khan told Xinhua.


DoD: Sgt. Ryan D. Sharp

War News for Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Reported security incidents





Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan officials say 48 people have been killed in a suicide bombing targeting Shiite worshippers marking a holy day in Kabul on Tuesday. The Kabul attacker blew himself up in the midst of a crowd of men, women and children gathered outside the Abul Fazl shrine to commemorate the seventh century death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein. Some men were beating themselves in mourning and food was being distributed. Mohammed Zahir, chief of the Kabul Criminal Investigation Department, gave the death toll and said more than 100 people were wounded. A bomb strapped to a bicycle also exploded as a convoy of Afghan Shiites was driving down the road, shouting slogans for the festival known as Ashoura, in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Four people were killed, officials said.

#2: An explosion rocked Kandahar city in south Afghanistan on Tuesday, injuring five people including three civilians, provincial police chief Abdul Razeq said. "The terrorists planted a bomb in the cavities of a motorbike and detonated in Charso Chowk of Kandahar city at around 01:00 p.m. local time as a result two policemen and three civilians were injured," Razeq told Xinhua.

#3: An explosion hit the Balkh provincial capital Mazar-e-Sharif, 305 km north of Kabul on Tuesday, killing four people and injuring four others, all civilians, police spokesman in the northern region Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai said. "The terrorists planted an explosive device inside a handcart and detonated it by remote control killing four people and injuring four others, all are innocent civilians," Ahmadzai told Xinhua.

#4: Two Afghan policemen were killed in an operation in the country's northern relatively peaceful province of Badakhshan, a spokesman for the provincial government said on Tuesday. "Police have launched a cleanup operation on Monday in Aakhsira area of Wardoj district to capture a group of irresponsible armed men who have been challenging peace and stability in the area," Mohammad Maruf Rasikh told Xinhua. "There were sporadic gunfights in the area since the raid was launched yesterday and a number of militants have been killed," Rasikh said. He said two policemen with the Afghan National Police (ANP) have also been killed and three others were injured in the operation, which is still going on Tuesday in the province with Faizabad as its capital, 315 km northeast of Kabul. "Three more ANP forces sustained injuries in the operation," he added.

#5: Afghan and NATO-led coalition forces have killed 12 armed insurgents in southern Helmand province, a spokesman for provincial administration said on Tuesday.

War News for Monday, December 05, 2011

NATO is reporting the deaths of three ISAF soldiers from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, December 3rd.


US convoys leave Iraq under tribal protection

US vacating air base in Pakistan used by drones

US official says no sign Iran shot down drone


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb killed a Shi'ite pilgrim and wounded nine others late on Sunday in Baghdad's southwestern Bayaa district, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded seven Shi'ite pilgrims late on Sunday in Baghdad's southwestern Amil district, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb went off and wounded five people in Baghdad eastern Camp Sara district, a hospital source said.

#4: Gunmen using silenced weapons wounded Iraqi army Brigadier General Ali Fadhil, and killed his wife, late on Saturday, while he was driving his car though a crossroads in Baghdad's northeastern Ur district, police said.


Latifiyah:
#1: Iraqi officials say a bomb blast has killed two Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad during an important religious ritual for the Muslim sect. Police officials say Monday's attack on Shiite pilgrims in Latifiyah, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of the Iraqi capital, also wounded three people. A medical official confirmed the toll. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the are not authorized to talk to the media.

Gunmen using hand grenades attacked Shi'ite pilgrims marching to the holy city of Kerbala to mark Ashura, a major religious ritual, killing two and wounding four in Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: A roadside bomb went off near a joint Iraqi army and police checkpoint, killing one soldier and wounding three soldiers and one policeman in Baghdad's western outskirts of Abu Ghraib, police and hospital sources said. An interior ministry source said four soldiers were killed and two wounded.


Dujail:
#1: A sticky bomb attached to the car of Brigadier Ali Resool of the Federal Police blew up and wounded one of his guards in Dujail, 50 km (30 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. An hour later a bomb was placed outside of Resool's house and seriously injured his son.


Kirkuk:
#1: A bomb went off inside a house, killing two men and wounding one woman in southern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police sources said. Police said they suspect the victims were manufacturing or moving the bomb when it went off.


Mosul:
#1: A roadside bomb wounded three people in southwestern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Gunmen in a car shot at another vehicle carrying a police officer, killing him and wounding two of his security guards near the city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#3: Gunman broke into a funeral, killing one man and wounding a woman and a child on Saturday in Mosul, a source in the Nineveh province security operations center said. The attacker was killed by nearby policemen as he tried to escape, the source said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An Afghan civilian and a soldier were killed and six civilians were injured Sunday night in a clash took place in country's Kunar province, 185 km east of capital Kabul, an official said on Monday. "So far two killed with a civilian and an army soldier with Afghan National Army and six injured civilians have been admitted to a hospital here in Asadabad," head of a government-run hospital Farooq Sahaq said. The gunfight between Afghan soldiers and suspected Taliban insurgents took place late on Sunday in Nanglam area of restive Manogai district, a witness who has transported the injured men to the hospital told Xinhua. "The clash was going on for more than an hour and there were casualties on Taliban insurgents," the witness named Zabi said.

#2: A total of 20 insurgents were killed and 15 others were captured when Afghan and NATO-led coalition forces launched operations in different parts of the country over the past 24 hours, country's Interior Ministry said on Monday. "During the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan National Army and Coalition Forces launched nine joint operations in surrounding areas of Kabul, Kunar, Kandahar, Zabul, Ghazni, Khost, and Herat provinces," the ministry said in the statement.

#3: Five Afghan civilians including four children lost their lives as a roadside bomb struck a civilian vehicle in Uruzgan province 370 km south of Afghan capital Kabul on Monday, police said. "The tragic incident happened at around 03:15 p.m. local time today in Chora district as a result five civilians including four children and a woman were martyred," provincial police spokesman Mohammad Farid Aael told Xinhua. Six more people including two children, a woman and three men sustained injuries in the incident, he added.


Civ: Bob McCullough

News of the Day for Sunday, December 4, 2011

Reported Security Incidents

Note: Aswat al-Iraq in English is currently off-line. Ordinarily they report security incidents which are not reported elsewhere, so we may be missing something.

Baghdad

Roadside bomb attack on a military convoy in Abu Ghraib kills 4 Iraqi soldiers.

Kirkuk

A man and his son are killed when a bomb they are assembling in their home explodes. The man's wife and daughter, and another child, are injured.

Other News of the Day

PM Al-Maliki says that he was the intended target of the car bombing in the Green Zone last week. (I just note that it's interesting, is it not, that even with the U.S. occupation ending and Iraq supposedly entering a normal regime of independence and security, the government offices, and the vast U.S. embassy, are still in The Green Zone, an isolated territory which ordinary citizens cannot enter. -- C)

And speaking of security, The U.S. is paying tribal militias for protection along the road south to Kuwait as its forces withdraw. That would seem to indicate that the Iraqi army and police do not control the countryside, unless I'm missing something -- C

PM Al-Maliki gives an extended interview with AP reporters. Among the highlights, he agrees with the need for reform in Syria, but insists that Assad's regime must remain in power in the interest of stability. He insists that Iraq will chart an independent course in foreign policy but does emphasize friendly relations with Iran. The AP reporters want to spin this as reflecting Shiite dominance of the Iraqi government and its attraction to that side of the sectarian divide in the region. Maliki also says that the departure of U.S. forces will remove a major motivation for violence in Iraq, and he does not fear a return to high levels of sectarian conflict. (We shall see.)

Afghanistan Update

International conference on the future of Afghanistan convenes in Bonn, Germany, but without one essential participant, Pakistan. The boycott by Pakistan is ostensibly because of the recent NATO air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. One hoped-for outcome is the establishment of a Taliban diplomatic office through which peace negotiations can be implemented.

Hami Karzai arrives in Bonn early and gives an interview to Der Spiegel. He says Afghanistan will need international security assistance until 2024.

Afghan Interior Ministry says its forces have killed 42 insurgents and captured 37 others in the past 24 hours in various operations. No corroboration is offered.

Three NATO soldiers are killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday. No further information is available now.

War News for Saturday, December 03, 2011

Pakistan changes rules of engagement in wake of NATO attack

British soldier fired for stabbing Afghan boy -- Grenadier Guardsman Daniel Crook jailed and dismissed from the army after bayoneting boy, 10, in kidneys for no reason


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb targeting a Shi'ite procession, wounded seven people, including two policemen, in the Ghazaliya district of western Baghdad on Friday evening, police said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Two bombs planted near a policeman's house wounded three members of his family in central Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.


Iskandariya:
#1: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed three people, including a father and his son, when it went off near their vehicle in a farmland near the town of Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: At least one person was killed and 12 others were wounded when three roadside bombs exploded in quick succession in southeastern Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad on Friday evening, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen broke into a house and killed two men in southern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a local police source said.

#2: Gunmen in a car killed one person in western Mosul, a local police source said.

#3: A gunman was killed in a fire exchange with the Iraqi army after he resisted arrest in northern Mosul, police said.


Zakho:
#1: Thirty people including 20 policemen were reported injured in the rampage, which followed Friday midday prayers in the town of Zakho, some 300 miles (475 kilometres) northwest of Baghdad. Zakho lies within the territory controlled by Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government. Some 30 liquor stores, four hotels, and a massage parlour in and around the city near the Turkish border were ransacked, set on fire or otherwise damaged, they said. Angry crowds then attacked offices belonging to a Kurdistan-based Islamist party in retaliation, officials said. Six headquarters of the Kurdistan Islamic Union in and around Zakho, and in the nearby city of Dohuk, were set on fire or otherwise assaulted, said Zakho police officer Ahmed Doski.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Officials in the ministry of interior affairs of Afghanistan following a statement on Saturday said, at least 6 militants were killed and 6 others were injured following an operation by Afghan national police forces during the past 24 hours. The statement further added, the operations were conducted by Afghan national police forces in Takhar, Kandahar and Herat provinces during the past 24 hours. The statement did not disclose further information regarding the casualties of Afghan security forces during the operations.

#2: "An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) which was placed by enemies of peace and stability on a bicycle exploded in Shahjoy district of Zabul province at 11:00 a.m. local time Friday. As a result of the blast, 10 people were wounded including eight civilians," the ministry said in a statement.

#3: In an unrelated incident, Taliban insurgents opened fire on a vehicle in neighboring Kandahar province, killing a civilian and injuring his wife. A statement released by the Kandahar provincial government on Saturday said the incident occurred in Zhari district on Friday afternoon.

#4: Seven Afghan militants were killed and five Pakistani security forces injured in a cross-border skirmish Friday, officials said. It was the latest in a series of recent cross-border assaults from Afghanistan's Pech Valley and the provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, all areas from which U.S. troops began pulling out earlier this year as part of a strategy designed to bolster security in more populated areas of Afghanistan. The Pakistani forces returned fired into Afghanistan, killing seven militants, Jadoon said.

#5: Helicopter gunships attacked militants' hideouts in the northwestern tribal region of Orakzai, killling around a dozen insurgents, local security officials said. Five hideouts were destroyed, they said. There was no independent confirmation of the death toll and militants often dispute official figures.

#6: Afghan police and army have eliminated 10 insurgents and captured 16 other suspects in a military operation which concluded on Saturday in the country's western Herat province, provincial police chief said. "Afghan National Police (ANP) and Afghan army concluded today a cleanup operation after clearing up insurgent fighters in Pashtun Zarghun, Obe, Guzara, and Chishti Sharif districts," Sayed Agha Saqib told reporters in a press briefing here. He said joint forces have killed 10 insurgents and captured 16 suspected armed men besides injuring five armed insurgents and seizing several weapon caches during the raids that was launched nearly one month ago in the province 640 km west of capital city of Kabul.

War News for Friday, December 02, 2011

Senate approves $662 billion defense bill

Ceremony marks end of US warfare in Iraq - Make sure that your stomach is empty before reading this bunch of BS. – whisker

Pakistan planes would have engaged NATO in attack

Dipton soldier killed in armoured vehicle missing spare part


Reported security incidents

Diyala Prv:
#1: update Gunmen using silenced weapons stormed three houses of Sahwa militiamen, killing eight members of two families and wounding five members of a third family in Buhriz, about 60 km (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.


Hilla:
#1: A roadside bomb targeting departing U.S troops blew up and killed a civilian on the southern outskirts of Hilla, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad, two police sources said.


Hashimiya: (?)
#1: Police said they found the bodies of two men who had been handcuffed, burned and shot in Hashimiya, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad.


Taji:
#1: Seven policemen were wounded when one of three roadside bombs they were trying to defuse went off in Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#2: Iraq's minister of environment escaped an assassination attempt by a roadside bomb that blew up when his convoy was passing. It wounded four people including one of the minister's guards in Taji, police said.


Tuz Khurmato:
#1: One policeman was killed and five wounded, including four policemen in two roadside bombs in Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of Baghdad, a local police source said.


Shirqat:
#1: Gunmen attacked a check point manned by government backed Sunni militia's fighters of Sahwa killing three fighters and wounding two late on Thursday in Shirqat, 300 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad, a local police source said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Police said they found the beheaded body of Sheikh Thalaj Zaalan on the western outskirts of Haditha, 190 km (120 miles) northwest of Baghdad.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A powerful suicide truck bomb exploded near the entrance to a NATO base on Friday, injuring as many as 70 people, mainly civilians, south of the Afghan capital Kabul, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in Muhammad Agha district of Logar province which took place at around 8:00am (0330 GMT) Friday. "The suicide attacker wanted to ram his explosive-laden vehicle into the coalition forces base but he was stopped at the gate and detonated the truck outside the base," he said. He put the provisional toll of those injured at five -- three police and two NDS (Afghan intelligence) personnel --adding that some houses had been destroyed by the blast. A spokesman for NATO's US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed a car bombing in the district but said they were still "gathering information". He could not confirm that ISAF was the target or the number of casualties.

#2: Unidentified miscreants detonated an improvised explosive devise (IED) with a remote control outside District Coordination Officer's (DCO) office on Thursday, however, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. A wall of the office building collapsed after the blast, which was heard throughout Peshawar, the last major city on the route to Afghanistan. According to police, the explosion damaged the outer wall of the office located at Bacha Khan Chowk on Charsadda Road. The windowpanes of the building were smashed and the blast was heard throughout Peshawar. The police cordoned off the area and started a search operation. Police was already put on high alert due to Muharram. According to the Bomb Disposal Squad, it was a locally manufactured time device and was meant to create terror among the residents.

#3: Five people including three civilians were injured in a bomb blast in Dehrawad district in Uruzgan province 370 km south of Afghan capital city Kabul on Friday, police said. "The blast happened at 10:30 a.m. local time in a cattle bazaar of Dehrawad district today as a result five people including three civilians and two local police were injured," police spokesman in Trinkot city Mohammad Farid Aael told Xinhua. "It appeared to be a remote-controlled bomb blast"he said, adding that investigation is underway to identify the exact reason for the blast and those behind the subversive activities.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Vincent J. Bell

War News for Thursday, December 01, 2011

Newlywed soldier from Bury shot and killed in Kenya training accident

Nato ignored warnings, top army official says


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Four Iraqi civilians have been injured in an explosive charge blast in west Baghdad's Aadamiya district on Thursday, a security source reported. "An explosive charge, planted close to the Royal Graveyard in west Baghdad's Aadamiya district, blew off on Thursday, wounding 4 civilians and causing damage for a number of a civilian cars, close to the venue of the blast," the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Iraqi officials say a car bomb has killed 10 people and injured more than 20 in a town northeast of Baghdad. Authorities immediately imposed a curfew in the town of Khalis, in Diyala Province. Police said the car bomb exploded in a marketplace as shoppers were starting to arrive.

#2: Also in Diyala, gunmen stormed the home of an anti-al-Qaida Sunni fighter at dawn and killed seven people, police said. The victims of the attack in the town of Buhriz about 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of Baghdad included the local leader of the pro-government Sahwa or Awakening Councils movement and six members of his family, four of whom were women. Faris al-Azawi, the spokesman of Diyala's health directorate, confirmed the death tolls in both Khalis and Buhriz.

#3: A parked car bomb exploded near a Shi'ite procession, wounding seven people, in Balad Ruz, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad, a source in the Diyala province security operations centre said.


Taji:
#1: Two Army men and 2 policemen have been injured in an explosive charge blast against their joint patrol in west Baghdad's Taji district on Thursday, a Baghdad security source reported. "An explosive charge blew off in north Baghdad's Taji district against a joint Iraqi Army and Police patrol, wounding 4 of its elements," the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A militant was killed when a roadside bomb he was planting exploded in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a source in the Nineveh province security operations centre said.

#2: Police found the skeleton of a civilian who was kidnapped in 2008 and shot in the head, in an area west of Mosul, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Two Pakistanis were allegedly gunned down by NATO forces in the Bibijan area of Afghanistan, which borders the Chagai district of Balochistan. Balochistan Levies confirmed the incident and said that the that two men had been shot dead in the Helmand province of Afghanistan on Thursday morning. “The two men went to visit their relatives living inside Afghanistan from Chagai, when NATO forces opened fire on them, killing both instantly,” relatives told local journalists.

#3: Afghan officials say three policemen died and four others were wounded in an explosion in northeast Afghanistan. Kamen Khan, a police official in Baghlan district of Baghlan province, says all seven were riding in an Afghan National Police vehicle on Thursday morning when it hit a roadside mine.

#4: On Tuesday in a neighboring district, (Baghlan province) two German troops were wounded when their vehicle ran over a roadside bomb.

#5: Seven Pakistani engineers have been kidnapped in an area near Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul, Afghan police said, Press TV reports. Unknown gunmen attacked a minivan carrying the Pakistani engineers, when they were going home from work on Wednesday. The abductees were assigned to a hospital construction project in Pol-e-Alam, the capital of eastern province of Logar. Their driver was forced out of the car and all were taken away to an unknown location, Logar police chief Ghulam Sakhi Roghliwani said.

#6: A bomb exploded near the office of a regional government official in the often restive northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar early on Thursday, police officials said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. A wall of the district coordination officer's building collapsed after the blast, which was heard throughout Peshawar


DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Dennis R. Murray