War News for Wednesday, February 14, 2012

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Pfc. Cesar Cortez died of unreported causes in the Kingdom of Bahrain on Saturday, February 11th. News reports that ne died in a motorcycle accident. Note: he was originally listed as supporting United States Mission Iraq but was changed to supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from small arms fire in the Nad 'Ali district of Helmand province, Afghanistan on Monday, February 13th. Note: This is the ISAF release posted yesterday.


US meddling in Balochistan

Gainesville Marine severely wounded in Afghanistan -- Private First Class Sean Adams was clearing a roadway with a mine sweeper when he stepped on the IED. "He has shrapnel to his left eye, lacerations to his face, fractured jaw that is wired shut, both ear drums were ruptured, bruised lungs, soft tissue damage to both his arms, right hand pinky was amputated half way, left hand pinky was amputated, left hand thumb was amputated completely, shrapnel to the groin, left leg was amputated above the knee, and right leg was amputated mid-thigh," said Joshua.

Afghan Report Blames NATO for Airstrike That Killed Children

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Feb 14


Reported security incidents
#1: Afghan police, backed by army and the NATO-led coalition forces, have killed three insurgents and detained 44 militants during a series of operations over the past 24 hours, the country's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. "During the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police, Afghan army and International Coalition Forces launched four joint operations in Jawzjan, Kandahar, Uruzgan, and Khost provinces," the ministry said in a statement.

#2: At least six insurgents and two police were killed and four wounded when they engaged in clash in Khoshamand district Paktika province. A media release from Paktika governor say that police were busy of patrolling in Khoshamnd district while they ordered a car to stop but the driver tried to run away from the area toward Ghazni province. Afterward police from Khoshamand and Jani Khel districts of Paktika followed the car into Ghazni province and later engaged in clash with them.

#3: Moreover Taliban claims to have blown up a NATO vehicle killing all personnel on board in Sabari district khost on monday but Sabari sub governor Dawlat Khan Qayumi. NATO press office in eastern Afghanistan confirms the incident but denies the allegations of Taliban regarding the casualties.

#4: According to local authorities in eastern Ghazni province, at least 6 Taliban militants were killed following armed clashes with the Afghan security forces in this province. A spokesman for the 505 Spinghar Zone Security Brigade Gen. Hamidullah said, at least 6 Taliban militants were killed and 4 Afghan National Police service members were injured during the cashes. Gen. Hamidullah further added, the clashes took place between the Taliban militants and Paktika police forces at Ghozi village in Ab-Band district of eastern Ghazni province. He also added, 4 Afghan police service members were critically injured during the clashes.


DoD: Pfc. Cesar Cortez

DoD: Lance Cpl. Osbrany Montes De Oca

War News for Monday, February 13, 2012

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, February 13th.


Risks of Afghan War Shift From Soldiers to Contractors

CENTCOM Quarterly Contractor Census Reports

Defense Base Act Case Summary by Employer - Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP)

Nato admits killing Afghan children

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Feb. 13, Feb. 12th.

Admiral Seeks Freer Hand in Deployment of Elite Forces -- off with his head - whisker


Reported security incidents
#1: Tajikistan's Defense Ministry says one of its helicopters has crashed in neighboring Afghanistan, killing four air force officers while performing a support operation for the international military coalition. The ministry said in a statement Monday that the helicopter was delivering humanitarian supplies to mountain communities in Afghanistan when it crashed Saturday. That account appears to contradict information provided by United States military contractor Supreme Group, which stated that the helicopter was carrying food and water to U.S. forces. Supreme said the helicopter was operated by a company called Central Asian Aviation Services, It is unclear if the Tajik air force leased its craft and provided the services of its military personnel to the U.S. contractor.

#2: Afghan officials on Sunday reported the assassination of a provincial jurist from a restive eastern province. His 8-year-old daughter was killed along with him, they said. The victim of the latest shooting, on Sunday evening, was Mohammad Nasir, who led the appeals court in Kunar province, which lies near Pakistan's tribal areas and has been the scene of heavy fighting over the last year. The killing occurred as the judge was visiting family in neighboring Nangarhar province. Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a provincial spokesman in Nangarhar, said that Nasir was ambushed in his vehicle on his way home from a family visit, and that the shooting also injured two women and five children, all believed to be relatives. Other news accounts said the killing had taken place in the home of a family member in Nangarhar. The killing occurred in a district close to Jalalabad, the main city in Afghanistan's east, which was recently handed over to Afghan security control

#3: Six Taliban insurgents and two Afghan policemen were killed Sunday night in a clash in the country's eastern province of Paktika, the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Monday. "A clash broke out when a group of armed Taliban attacked a police unit in Ghozi Khil area of Abband district of eastern Paktika province Sunday night," the ministry said in a statement. In retaliatory attack by Afghan National Police (ANP) a total of six Taliban, including their commander namely Fida Mohammad, were killed, the statement said. The statement also confirmed two policemen with ANP were also killed in the clash lasted for a while.

#4: At least three people were killed and eight others were injured in a blast targeting a police vehicle in Dera Murad Jamali of southwest Pakistan on Monday, local media reported. According to the report by local Urdu TV channel ARY, the bomb went off at about 12:45 p.m. local time near a police vehicle when it was on its routine patrolling in Dera Murad Jamali, a city located at the east of southwest province of Balochistan. According to the initial reports, the explosive material was fixed in a motorbike parked near a goat market and it was triggered off by a remote controlled device. The explosion killed three people at the spot and injured eight others including four policemen.

#5: A homemade bomb exploded next to a police vehicle in the town of Dera Murad Jamali in the southwestern Baluchistan province, killing two people and wounding 14, local officials said.

#6: Afghan security forces and foreign troops killed 10 insurgents during operations in the Kabul, Helmand, Paktika and Farah provinces over the past 24 hours, the interior ministry said in a statement.

According to local authorities in southern Afghanistan, at least three Taliban militants were killed following armed clashes with the Afghan police in southern Kandahar province. The statement further added, 3 armed insurgents were killed at Arghistan district on Sunday evening after they ambushed an Afghan National Police vehicle at Mosh Giran area. Afghan National Police and Afghan civilians did not suffer any casualties during the clashes, officials confirmed. In the meantime Afghan police forces killed at least 2 insurgents at Maroof district while they were planting roadside bombs after crossing the border from Pakistan.

#7: A bomb blast rocked Trinkot the capital of Uruzgan province 370 km south of capital city Kabul on Monday, killing one person and injuring another, police said. "It was a remote-controlled bomb blast took place at around 08: 00 a.m. local time in Trinkot city as a result one person namely Mohammadullah was killed and another injured," deputy to provincial police chief Gulab Khan told Xinhua. The man killed in the blast was a contractor who supplied food items to police, he further, adding the injured man was a civilian and relative of Mohammadullah.

News of the Day for Sunday, February 12, 2012

Four Tajik civilians working for a NATO logistics contractor die in a helicopter crash in Zabul Province. Cause of the crash is not yet known.

And indeed, the NYT reports today that Even dying is being outsourced in Afghanistan. DoD contractors are under no obligation to report their casualties, and don't necessarily compensate the families either. Excerpt:

This is a war where traditional military jobs, from mess hall cooks to base guards and convoy drivers, have increasingly been shifted to the private sector. Many American generals and diplomats have private contractors for their personal bodyguards. And along with the risks have come the consequences: More civilian contractors working for American companies than American soldiers died in Afghanistan last year for the first time during the war.

Qazi Abdul Basir, the head of the appeals court for Kunar province, is killed in a home invasion while visiting family in Nangarhar province. His wife and five children were injured in the attack. DPA's account is somewhat different, saying his son was also killed while two women and three children were injured, and that the attack was a drive-by shooting by motorcyclists. AP says yes, it was a home invasion, but his niece was also killed. Whatever. They all agree he's dead.

Pakistanis say Afghan forces raided a home well inside Pakistan, and abducted and killed 2 suspected Taliban. They were staying at the home of a tribal elder. Some people say a third person was also killed.

And, right on cue, Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani says Pakistan is not supporting the Afghan Taliban. (To be fair, Balochistan, where the above incident took place, is not under control of the central government. However, it is widely believed that Pakistan tolerates the presence of Afghan Taliban in the border regions, and maintains relations with them, in hope of gaining influence in Afghanistan after a future settlement. -- C)

A UN sponsored survey finds that more than half of brick kiln workers in Afghanistan are bonded child labors, many of them younger than 14. Families essentially sell their children into servitude in order to pay for necessities, weddings and funerals.

Lest we forget, Afghanistan has known nothing but war for a long time. Activists in Bamiyan are demanding justice for a massacre that took place during civil war 19 years ago.

Iraq Update

Turkish warplanes again strike suspected PKK targets in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Adnan Al Assadi says that weapons are being smuggled from Iraq to Syrian rebels, and that career Jihadists have also gone from Iraq to Syria to join the fighting. Don't misunderstand the spin -- he's against it.

And, in other news, Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri calls for Muslims to join the uprising in Syria.

War News for Saturday, February 11, 2012

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, February 10th.


Two Westerners kidnapped in Pakistan held by Taliban

Hackers target CIA, Mexican, Alabama websites

Man Gets Life Term for Killing 2 U.S. Airmen in Germany

Informer Misled NATO in Airstrike That Killed 8 Civilians, Afghans Say

Mississippi soldier dies of medical condition in Afghanistan


Reported security incidents
#1: An Afghan government official says five policemen have been killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. The deputy governor of Uruzgan province, Haji Khubirahim, says the policemen were patrolling in their vehicle when it hit a roadside mine in Chanartu district. He says one civilian also was wounded in the blast, which occurred early on Saturday morning.

#2: Militants fired two rocket-propelled grenades at a military airport in the town of Miranshah in the North Waziristan tribal region, near the Afghanistan border, security officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

#3: Afghan police backed by army and the NATO-led forces have killed three anti-government militants and captured 12 others over the past 24 hours during series of operations across the country, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Saturday. "During the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army and the international Coalition Forces launched six joint operations in Nangarhar, Parwan, Helmand, Nimroz, Ghazni and Khost provinces during which three armed insurgents were killed, two wounded and 12 others were arrested," the statement added.

#4: At least five people were injured in an attack on a police mobile in northwestern Pakistani district of Sawabi on Friday evening, reported local Urdu TV channel Dunya.

According to a statement issued by the ministry of defense of Afghanistan, at least 2 Afghan National Army service members were killed and four others were injured in Obe district of western Herat province. The statement further added, at least 2 other Afghan National Army service members were killed and injured in a separate incident at Khas district of eastern Kunar province.

War News for Friday, February 10, 2012

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Sgt. 1st Class Billy A. Sutton died from unreported causes somewhere in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, February 7th.


Afghan private security handover looking messy

Drones multiply militants: FM Hina

Ten years later, CIA ‘rendition’ program still divides N.C. town


Reported security incidents
#1: Pakistani forces killed 11 militants and wounded 19 in the northwest on Friday, security officials said, in a crackdown in the Kurram tribal region near the border with Afghanistan. The military fired artillery shells at three suspected hideouts in the Mamozai area of Kurram, where dozens of people have been killed in fierce fighting between Pakistani soldiers and insurgents in the last few weeks. The death toll could not be independently verified and militants often dispute official accounts.

#2: It said that six militants were killed on Thursday after foreign forces launched an airstrike in response to rocket-propelled grenade attack and small arms fire in the Nijrab district of Kapisa, situated some 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of the Afghan capital city of Kabul.

#3: Two other were killed after foreign forces retaliated for a barrage of mortar rounds fired by militants in the Khost district of Khost Province, situated 150 kilometers (93 miles) southeast of Kabul, the ISAF statement added.

#4: Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai accused NATO on Thursday of killing a number of children in an airstrike, a case which could stoke tensions between the government and its western backers over a mounting civilian death doll. The NATO-led coalition in the country did not immediately confirm the deaths, but said it was investigating an incident in the Najrab district of eastern Kapisa province. Mehrabuddin Safi, the governor of Kapisa, said a coalition air strike late on Wednesday killed eight children in Giawa village. Other Afghan officials had earlier said the strike followed a night raid on suspected insurgents.

#5: Kandahar (BNA) two civilians were wounded in a bomb explosion in Kandahar province yesterday, this bomb exploded yesterday noon in the Khwaja BaBa area, of that province. According to reports, Taliban was placed this bomb in a motorbikes. Media’s office of Kandahar province said to BNA, in this explosion, two civilians have been wounded.

#6: A homemade bomb planted in a donkey cart exploded in the Khuzdar area of the southwestern Baluchistan province, killing one person and wounding another, police officials said.


DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Billy A. Sutton

War News for Thursday, February 09, 2012

Turkish clashes with PKK militants kill 14

U.S. likely to scale down plans for bases in Japan and Guam

National Guard (in Federal Status) and Reserve Activated as of February 7, 2012


Reported security incidents
#1: A suspected U.S. drone strike killed four people in Pakistan's tribal region Thursday morning, Pakistani officials told CNN. The drone fired two missiles at a suspected militant hideout in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, according to security and political officials, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The attack was the second drone strike in Pakistan in as many days.

#2: Two policemen were killed and one wounded when they tried to defuse a mine planted in Lashkar Gah city in southern province Helmand on Wednesday, said Farid Farhang, a media advisor to the provincial police chief.

#3: Afghan security forces and foreign troops killed two insurgents and detained 30 more in joint operations in Kandahar, Uruzgan, Khost, Kapisa, Helmand and Herat provinces over the past 24 hours, the interior ministry said in a statement.

#4: Unidentifed attackers threw a hand grenade at a shop in Quetta, capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, wounding four people, police officials said.

#5: Gunmen on motorcycles shot and killed local politician Abdul Ghani Haqqani in the town of Chaman in southwestern Baluchistan province, near the Afghan border, security officials said.

#6: According to local authorities in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police forces launched a joint military operation at eastern Khost province. Provincial security officials following a press release said, the operations have been conducted in a number of bordering regions of eastern Khost province. Sardar Mohammad Zazai Provincial Security Chief for eastern Khost province said, a number of suspected militants were detained during the military operation last evening.

#7: According to local authorities in eastern Afghanistan, at least 8 Afghan civilians were killed following an air raid by International Coalition forces in eastern Kapisa province. The officials further added, the incident took place in Nejrab district of eastern Kapisa province. A number of local residents said, the civilians were killed while they were feeding their animals on a mountain in Giawa in Nejrab district.

#8: According to local authorities in southern Afghanistan, at least 3 Afghan National police service members were killed and injured following an explosion in southern Helmand province on Thursday. The officials further added, the incident took place around 10:30 am local time killing at least 2 Afghan police and injuring 1 other. Provincial governor spokesman Daud Ahmadi confirming the report said, the incident took place after an explosive device planted in a road culvert went off at Lashkargah city. Mr. Ahmadi further added, Afghan police forces were struggling to defuse the roadside bomb when the explosion took place.

War News for Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Pakistan holds border talks after deadly US attack

U.S. evaluating size of Baghdad embassy, officials say


Reported security incidents
#1: U.S. drone-fired missiles hit a house in Pakistan's northwest tribal region near the Afghan border on Wednesday, killing nine people, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The attack occurred in Spalga village in the North Waziristan tribal area, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The dead included some domestic Taliban militants, said the officials. The area where the strike occurred is dominated by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a prominent militant commander focused on fighting foreign troops in Afghanistan.

#2: Militants set off a homemade bomb next to a police patrol in the village of Chinari in the northwestern Mohmand tribal region near the Afghanistan border, killing two policemen and wounding another, local government officials said.

#3: A homemade bomb exploded outside a bank in the southwestern city of Quetta, wounding one person, police officials said.

#4: Unidentified armed men threw a grenade at a local political group's office in the Lyari area of the southern city of Karachi, killing two people and wounding four, police officials said.

#5: A homemade bomb exploded in the Nasirabad area of the southwestern province of Baluchistan, wounding four people, including a paramilitary soldier, security officials said.

#6: Three armed insurgents have been killed and 13 others detained during joint Afghan and NATO-led coalition operations in five provinces, the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. "Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan army, NDS or Afghan intelligence agency and Coalition Forces launched five joint operations in Helmand, Kandahar, Khost, Logar and Kapisa provinces over the past 24 hours,"the ministry said in a statement. "As a result of these operations, three armed insurgents were killed and 13 others were arrested by the ANP,"it said.

#7: A training plane of Pakistan Air Force crashed in Pashin district of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Wednesday, reported local Urdu TV channel Geo.