War News for Saturday, June 07, 2014

Afghanistan flash floods kill around 60

122 ‘missing persons’ traced in Balochistan in three years

After 2014‚ no more NATO medevacs for wounded Afghans


Reported security incidents
#1: Two soldiers were killed Saturday in separate bomb blasts in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, the military said, a quoted by AFP. The explosions took place in Bajaur tribal district, one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal regions, where troops have been battling Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

#2: At least five national army soldiers were wounded when their ranger-type was struck by car-bomb in southern province of Kandahar, the provincial press office statement said Saturday. A town-ace type vehicle packed with explosives was slammed into an army vehicle in Maiwand district of the province, where at least five soldiers were reportedly injured, said the governor office.

#3: At least four Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were martyred following improvised explosive device (IED) attack during the past 24 hours. Gen. Azimi further added that 27 militants were also killed during military operations conducted by Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers in the past 24 hours.


DoD: Pfc. Matthew H. Walker

War News for Friday, June 06, 2014

Ex-CIA station chief be booked for murder: IHC


Reported security incidents
#1: Six Afghan border guards have been wounded in an attack on the northern village of Marchak, along the border with Turkmenistan. The chief of security in the Afghan district, Daulat Mawin, said the attack started when militants launched an assault on the village, which is located in Afghanistan's Baghdis Province.

#2: Afghan presidential front-runner, Abdullah Abdullah, has survived a bomb attack in Kabul. Speaking on national television, Mr Abdullah said two explosions struck his convoy as it was leaving a campaign event in the city. A police spokesman told the BBC that two civilians had been killed in the attack and 16 injured.

#3: Fresh clashes between banned militant outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and a breakaway faction killed at least seven militants in the Pakistan’s restive northwest on Friday, officials have said. The fighting erupted in the Wacha Mela area 65 kilometres (40 miles) west of Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan tribal district.

#4: In another incident of target killing, a policeman lost his life when unknown armed culprits opened fire at Court Road in Hyderabad, Geo News reported on Friday. According to police, two policemen named Riaz Awan and Muhammad Ejaz were on their way to Makki Shah police station when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them at Court Road near SSP office.

War News for Thursday, June 05, 2014

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, June 5th.

Reported security incidents
#1: Mohammad Qasim, police chief for the Waghaz district in the southern Gazni province, had gone with other officers to remove a roadside bomb planted by Taliban insurgents, district governor Abdul Azim Farooqi said. When they removed the bomb another mine concealed under it exploded, killing Qasim and two other officers. Another policeman was wounded in the blast.

#2: In a separate incident, gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a car carrying Afghan army personnel in the western city of Herat, killing two officers and wounding three others, said Mohammad Nadir Fahimi, the deputy provincial police chief. He said police were searching for the assailants.

#3: At least seven Pakistani soldiers have been killed and as many injured in two cross-border attacks by Taliban militants on military outposts on the border with Afghanistan. 

#4: At least three civilians were killed and 12 others wounded when a bomb went off in Afghanistan Wednesday, sources said. The explosion occurred in Maimana city, the provincial capital of Faryab province, Wednesday morning.

#5: Two senior army officers and three civilians were killed Wednesday when a suicide bomber ambushed a vehicle carrying security forces near the Pakistani capital, according to a military spokesman. In the attack in Rawalpindi, next to the capital, Islamabad, the bomber hurled himself at a double-cabin pickup near a railway intersection, killing two lieutenant colonels in the Pakistani army along with the three civilians.

#6: According to the report Balochistan ‘s provincial interior minister Sarfaraz Bugti told the media a crossfire between the security personnel and terrorists broke out during a cleanup operation in Darijan area of Dera Bugti. One Frontier Corps (FC) personnel was martyred in the clash while at least 30 terrorists were killed by the forces.

#7: At least four Afghan national army (ANA) soldiers were martyred following an attack in northeastern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan.

#8: At least one person was killed and seven others were injured following an explosion in capital Kabul early Thursday morning. According to security officials, the incident took place in Pul-e-Charkhi area of Kabul city after a magnetic bomb planted in a police vehicle went off. The officials further added that a number of police officers were also among those injured following the blast.

War News for Wednesday, June 04, 2014

Reported security incidents
#1: Suspected Taliban fighters attacked Pakistani outposts from positions on the Afghan side of the border, killing four soldiers, Pakistani military officials said on Wednesday. One military source said four soldiers were also wounded. The assault, which took place in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal region, comes after Afghan officials said an air strike by Pakistani forces killed four civilians on Saturday.

#2: A suspected suicide bomber attacked a Pakistani security forces vehicle in Rawalpindi, home to Pakistan's army headquarters, on Wednesday, killing five people including two officers, a military source said. The attack in Rawalpindi, next to the capital, Islamabad, came days after the Pakistani Taliban split into two groups, limiting the government's chances of finding a negotiated settlement to end the insurgency.

#3: At least three civilians were killed and 12 others wounded when a bomb went off in Afghanistan Wednesday, sources said. The explosion occurred in Maimana city, the provincial capital of Faryab province, Wednesday morning.

#4: A provincial official says four Afghan police officers were killed and another one was wounded when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the country's south. Omer Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor of Helmand province, said on Wednesday that the incident occurred on Tuesday evening while the policemen were on their way back from an operation in Sangin district.

#5: Afghan security forces during cleanup operations in northern Baghlan province which begun Tuesday have killed 15 militants so far, an army officer Ghulam Farooq Ahmadi said Wednesday. "We launched cleanup campaigns in Baghlan-e-Markazi district of Baghlan province Tuesday and so far 15 rebels have been killed and 20 others injured," Ahmadi told the media. One security personnel has been killed and two others injured during the operations, he said.

#6: At least two Afghan national army soldiers were martyred following an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion. The officials did not disclose further information regarding the exact location of the incident where the two Afghan soldiers martyred.


DoD: Capt. Jason B. Jones

War News for Tuesday, June 01, 2014

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, June 2nd.

Bodies of seven 'Taliban' found in Karachi

US Shuts Afghan Transit Base in Kyrgyzstan

Profiles of senior Taliban leaders freed in swap for US soldier

Statement from Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on the return of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl


Reported security incidents
#1: At least seven people were killed and another seven injured after a Parachinar-bound passenger van hit an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Shagni area of Kurram Agency on Tuesday morning.

#2: An Indian aid worker was Monday abducted by unidentified gunmen in Afghanistan’s Herat province, local officials and India’s foreign ministry said.

#3: Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a security patrol in a crowded Islamabad market on Tuesday injuring one police commando, according to officials, in a rare attack in Pakistan's capital.

#4: The Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs on Tuesday said the country's security forces have killed 34 Taliban militants in a series of military operations since early Monday.

#5: According to local authorities in eastern Kunar province, at least 120 more rockets were fired in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan in the latest wave of cross-border shelling. The officials further added that the rockets landed in Shegal and Dangam districts on Tuesday morning.

War News for Monday, June 02, 2014

Fellow soldiers call Bowe Bergdahl a deserter, not a hero


Reported security incidents
#1: Three engineers from a Turkish company have been killed in a suicide bombing in eastern Afghanistan, according to officials. The spokesman for the governor in Nangharhar province said the attack took place on Monday morning when the Turkish workers were travelling to work in the district of Behsud. Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said the bomber drove a motorcycle and the explosion killed three engineers and wounded a fourth.

#2: Also on June 2, a group of Taliban suicide bombers attacked a government compound in southern Helmand Province, killing two Afghan policemen and a civilian. An Afghan official said that in the Helmand attack, one bomber blew himself up at the gates of the compound while three attackers stormed inside. The attackers were shot and killed by other policemen.

#3: Four persons were killed when unknown culprits opened fire in a house in Buner District of Swat on Monday morning. According to police, the incident occurred in Palwari area of Buner where unknown armed assailants opened fire in a house that killed three women and a man.

#4: Afghan Ministry for Interior on Monday reported killing more than six dozen Taliban militants across the country over the past 24 hours.

News of the Day for Sunday, June 1, 2014

Only known U.S. POW in Afghanistan, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, is freed in exchange for 5 prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. Bergdahl was captured nearly 5 years ago and is believed to have been held by the Haqqani Network. President Obama, accompanied by Bergdahl's parents, said "While Bowe was gone, he was never forgotten. The United States of America does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind.” The trade was brokered by the government of Qatar, which will accept the prisoners from Guantanamo. The circumstances of Bergdahl's capture are unclear. It has been reported that he left his base unarmed, without authorization. However, U.S. officials have denied Taliban claims that he was a collaborator. He is currently at Bagram Field for evaluation and will return home via Germany.

Taliban say the 5 released men will live with their families in Qatar.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, in Afghanistan on a surprise visit, meets with the special forces team that accepted Bergdahl from his captors. Hagel will hold talks with commanders regarding the readiness and capability of Afghan forces.

Two children killed, 1 injured by an IED in southern Kandahar province.

Four Taliban are said to have been killed in Kunar Province in what is called a "public uprising."

Interior Ministry outdoes itself this time, claiming 34 Taliban killed in past 24 hours, as usual with zero government or civilian casualties. [Given this extraordinary, unblemished record of martial success over the past two years I can't imagine why Hagel is in any way concerned about the readiness of Afghan forces. They are obviously invincible, invulnerable, and inerrant. -- C]

Taliban attack Pakistani positions near the Afghan border, prompting Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan which Afghan officials say killed 5 civilians.

Update: Reuters has more details on the release of Bowe Bergdahl, who as of noon EDT is in Landstuhl. Predictably, Republican politicians are criticizing the deal with the Taliban and the release of Taliban prisoners. But Ronald Reagan, as is apparently forgotten, gave sophisticated weapons to Iran in part to win the release of hostages held in Lebanon. Since Afghan forces claim they kill 25 to 30 Taliban every day, five more are going to be less than 20% of one day's attrition -- probably not that big of a deal.