War News for Thursday, August 7, 2014

Kandahar police chief orders execution of militants arrested during operations


Reported security incidents
#1: At least three paramilitary soldiers and two militants were killed today in two separate incidents of violence in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, officials said. Unknown militants attacked the Frontier Corps convoy in Nasirabad area of Turbat district, killing two soldiers and injuring six others, said a security official. In retaliatory fire, two militants were also killed while the others escaped.

#2: Elsewhere, a soldier of Balochistan Constabulary was killed in Quetta when unknown gunmen targeted him. A police official said that the victim was identified as Aziz Khan who died on the spot. The killers managed to escape after the crime.

#3: During a security forces operation in the northern Baghlan province, four Taliban militants were killed and eight others were wounded, the Baghlan Governor's spokesman, Mahmoud Hakmal said.  However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that seven security forces were killed, and 12 others injured.

#4: Additionally in a separate incident, the Badghis police department said that eight militants were killed and 12 were wounded during clashes there. 

#5: Up to 104 Taliban militants have been killed and 33 others wounded in Afghan security forces' operations in two provinces, the country's Interior Ministry said on Thursday. "As part of exerting pressure against Taliban militants, the security forces launched crackdown in surrounding areas of southern Helmand and eastern Nangarhar provinces over the past 72 hours. The security forces battled the militants, killing 104 Taliban militants and wounding 33 others," the ministry said in a statement.

#6: Furthermore, 171 Taliban militants, including several foreign militants, had been killed during nine-day battle in Zharay district of southern Kandahar province which began on July 27, provincial police chief General Abdul Raziq told reporters there earlier on the day. The police chief said about 73 militants were wounded and 65 others detained during the clashes. Several militants' hideouts were also destroyed. The militants tried to gain control of the district near provincial capital Kandahar city, he said, adding 14 security forces personnel died and 17 others were wounded during the fierce clashes.

#7: According to local authorities in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, the Pakistani military has fired at least 135 rockets in this province during the past 24 hours.

#8: A heavy explosion was heard in capital Kabul late Wednesday night, with preliminary reports suggesting that a rocket landed near the Iranian embassy.

#9: Heavy clashes continue in central Uruzgan province of Afghanistan as scores of Taliban militants launch coordinated attacks in Khas Uruzgan district. According to local government officials, around 900 Taliban militants have taken part in the offensive which was launched five days ago.

War News for Wednesday, August 6th, 2014

Reported security incidents
#1: update --  A U.S. general was killed and more than a dozen people were wounded on Tuesday, including a German general, in the latest insider attack by a man believed to be an Afghan soldier, U.S., German and Afghan officials said.

#2: In eastern Paktia province, an Afghan police guard exchanged fire with NATO troops near the governor’s office, provincial police said. The guard was killed in the gunfight.

#3: A third “insider attack” happened late Tuesday in the Uruzgan provincial capital of Tirin Kot, where an Afghan police officer killed seven of his colleagues at a checkpoint, then stole their weapons and fled in a police car, provincial spokesman Doost Mohammad Nayab said. A doctor at a local hospital told The Associated Press it appeared the police officer drugged his colleagues before the shooting.

#4: At least seven suspected militants have been killed in the latest U.S. drone strike in Pakistan’s semiautonomous tribal belt. The latest strike took place in Lawara Mandi village in the federally-administered North Waziristan tribal agency, where the Pakistani military began Operation Zarb-e-Azb against militants in mid-June. This is the fifth drone strike since June 12. “A drone fired two missiles at a compound in Lawara Mandi and at least seven militants were killed,” said a senior security official in the region, adding that the dead included local and foreign militants, including Uzbeks and Haqqani network members.

#5: Two unidentified men opened fire on three members of the Sikh community in Peshawar on Wednesday, killing one and injuring the others, a private news channel reported. According to the report, attackers opened fire on the men around 10am in Shabab Market of Hashtnagri area of Peshawar.

#6: In continuation of operation which was launched recently by Afghan security forces in Helmand province, 35 armed oppositions were killed. Ministry of National Defense press office with sending a written letter stated BNA, the operation conducted under the name of Oqab (Eagle) few days ago in relevant areas of Sangeen district of the province, in which 35 Taliban militants lost their lives, 30 others wounded and several others arrested in the district.


DoD: Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene

War News for Tuesday, August 5th, 2014

Reported security incidents
#1: Multiple Western soldiers were killed Tuesday after a shooting at a military academy near Afghanistan's capital, officials said. A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force confirmed "fatalities' after "a shooting incident involving ISAF and Afghan troops," but could not confirm the number of victims or their nationalities. The shooting happened at Camp Qargha, which is located west of Kabul, the ISAF spokesman said.

The UK's Ministry of Defence is investigating reports of an Afghan soldier opening fire at a British-run military academy near Kabul. The BBC's Afghanistan correspondent David Loyn said he understands that an argument took place late morning or lunchtime between Afghans and an armed Afghan soldier, who opened fire.

At least four foreign soldiers were reportedly killed when an Afghan soldier fired on them in a military center in Kabul on Tuesday, a source said.

#2: A NATO helicopter strike targeting missile-launching Taliban militants killed four civilians in western Afghanistan, an Afghan official said on Tuesday. NATO said they were investigating the attack. The attack in western Herat province on Monday night in the province’s Shindan district, said Raouf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial chief of police. He said Taliban militants launched a missile at an airport nearby, drawing the NATO helicopter’s fire.

#3: A landmine killed the 19-year-old son of Afghanistan's Kosan district's security director, Qadir Khan, in western Herat province early on Monday, local officials said. The mine was placed near the door of Qadir Khan's house and exploded after he and his son, Tariq, were headed to the office, said Juma Gul Rahmani, the district governor.

#4: At least two Pakistani soldiers were killed and several others injured today when unknown gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in southwestern province of Balochistan. The incident occurred in Mastung district when a Balochistan Constabulary vehicle was on a routine patrol in Splanji area and suddenly came under attack from nearby mountains, the Dawn reported. "Several personnel were injured in the attack," a security official said.

#5: At least 30 suspected militants were killed and six of hideouts destroyed in fresh air strikes carried out by fighter jets in Datta Khel, Marsikhel, and Kamsham areas of North Waziristan tribal region, the ISPR sources said.

#6: About 33 Taliban militants were killed while 15 others injured during military operations across Afghanistan since early Monday, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

At least five Afghan national army (ANA) soldiers were martyred in fresh spate of violence during the past 24 hours.

#7: One Afghan civilian was killed along with two of his sons in a drive-by shooting in Guzara District of western Herat province on Monday, the latest in a string of targeted killings, a source said. "Abdul Shokor Robadmirza and two of his sons were killed after two men riding a motorcycle spree bullets on them at the gate of their house at around 6:00 p.m. (local time) in Guzara District," the district governor Nisar Ahmad Popal told Xinhua. 


DoD: Staff Sgt. Girard D. Gass Jr.

War News for Monday, August 4th, 2014

Reported security incidents
#1: A bomb killed a Pakistani religious leader and two of his guards during a celebration at a northwestern shrine on Monday, police said, as officers prepared for a militant backlash over a continuing military operation. Monday's bomb attack took place as a crowd of thousands gathered at a Sufi shrine near the city of Dera Ismail Khan where the religious leader, Faqir Jamshed, was presiding at a function.

#2: Four Afghan army soldiers were killed and four others wounded in a bomb attack in the outskirts of the national capital of Kabul on Monday morning, the Defense Ministry confirmed. "Four Afghan National Army (ANA) personnel were martyred and four wounded following a roadside bombing in southern outskirts of Kabul. The army personnel were on their routine patrol in an army armored vehicle when the incident took place at around 7:45 a.m. local time," the ministry said in a statement.

#3: Seven Uzbek terrorists and two army soldiers were killed during the clearance of the Miramshah to Datta Khel road, a military spokesperson said on Monday.

#4: Units of police in coordination with the army personnel have killed 86 Taliban militants during series of operations across the country over the past 24 hours, Interior Ministry said in a statement released here on Monday.

#5: Nine armed Taliban were killed and another wounded in Kunar province last night. According to police chief of Kunar province to BNA, nine armed insurgents were killed in drone attack of foreign forces and another wounded.

#5: Two consecutive explosions inflected financial damages in Nangarhar provinces last night.

News of the Day for Sunday, August 3, 2014

Electoral audit process resumes after a 7 hour delay due to non-participation by candidate Abdullah. The Independent Electoral Commission finally decided to proceed without his approval.

A NATO service member dies of non-combat injuries in eastern Afghanistan. No further information as of now.

One civilian killed, 1 civilian and 8 police injured when a police car strikes a roadside bomb in Nangarhar.

A joint Afghan and ISAF counteroffensive begins in Hesarak, Nangarhar after 1,000 insurgents launched attacks on Friday. ISAF is said to be providing air support for the operation. Six insurgents are said to have been killed, but the Taliban deny that.

Taliban in Helmand are said to have diversified their income sources through control of mining operations and collection of electric bills. (Really.)

Jean Mackenzie in Global Post gives us some highlights of the latest report of the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction. It's a laugh riot, hence the title, "Seven Insane Problems Outlined . . ." Example insane problems: Most of the $1.57 worth of buildings the Army Corps of Engineers constructed for the Afghan military are fire hazards due to unsafe foam insulation. Information that qualifies an Afghan national to be designated a terrorist and killed does not prevent said individual from doing business with ISAF. Opium poppy cultivation has been increasing and now represents 15% of GDP despite more than $7 billion spent to suppress it. Just read it. I'll skip ahead to corruption:

So, with more than $104 billion in reconstruction efforts at stake, what is the United States doing about corruption? SIGAR is succinct: “There is no comprehensive US strategy or guidance on combating corruption.”

Meanwhile, back in the cradle of civilization, IS captures three small towns and an oil field in the north  which had been garrisoned by peshmerga. This includes the town of Wana near the Mosul dam. Apparently this is territory the Kurds seized recently after the collapse of the Iraqi 2d Division and they chose not to invest heavily in defending it. Still, this is the first IS victory over peshmerga and suggests they have real military capability.

Uh oh: Iraqi state TV says IS has seized control of the Mosul dam. I was not expecting that. Also, I was mistaken about the towns they captured -- they have long been in Kurdish control. The situation with the dam could get very ugly very quickly. Good news: Fortunately, earlier reports that the Mosul dam was in the hands of IS were apparently false; the peshmerga still control it. Bad news: Peshmerga now say ISIS does control the Mosul dam.

Further update: The town of Sinjar, which fell to IS, is predominantly Yazidi. The Yazidi follow a pre-Muslim faith and IS considers them devil worshippers. Tens of thousands have fled on foot toward Kurdistan. The peshmerga say they were forced to abandon the town because they had run out of ammunition. Since relations between Baghdad and Irbil have soured, they no longer receive arms and ammunition from the central government and have been begging the world community for munitions. They say this was a tactical retreat and they will try to reclaim the territory if they can re-arm.

War News for Saturday, August 2, 2014

US drone strikes in Pakistan

Polio's Surge In Pakistan: Are Parents Part Of The Problem?

The Hidden Costs Of Fighting Polio In Pakistan

Taliban In Pakistan Derail World Polio Eradication


Reported security incidents
#1: One security official was killed in Bajaur Agency when militants attacked a security forces’ checkpost in border area of Mamond Tehsil, on Friday. According to ISPR, a group of militants entered Pakistani territory from Afghanistan’s Kunar province and attacked the border post in Ghakhai pass area. The assault was carried out using heavy weaponry, killing one FC official.

#2: At least three militants were killed on Saturday in Pakistan's North Waziristan region. The militants were killed in an operation conducted by security forces in the Mir Ali area, Dawn online reported.

#3: Eight people, including three security personnel, were killed in parts of Charsadda district in targeted attacks and other incidents during last four days.

#4: In a separate attack, two paramilitary soldiers were killed and several others injured when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in Dera Bugti, a town in the country's southwest Balochistan province.

#5: At least 29 Taliban militants were killed during counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan. The interior ministry of Afghanistan following a statement said Saturday that the militants were killed or injured during coordinated operations in the past 24 hours.

War News for Friday, August 1st, 2014

 40pc of weapons sent to Afghanistan are unaccounted for

Army deployment starts in Islamabad

Nearly half of identified drone strike victims in Pakistan are civilians: report


Reported security incidents
#1: The two militants were killed during an operation launched by army in Keran sector of Kupwara district on Thursday following a specific input about their movement in the area, the spokesman said. He said the militants were trying to exfiltrate from the Valley to PoK.

#2: Some unknown gunmen killed three persons including a woman in the Balochistan district on Friday here, Geo News reported. Levies Force said that the firing incident occurred at Join in Tehsil Prom, where unknown armed motorbike riders barged into a house and opened indiscriminate firing resulting in the death of three persons including a woman, while the assailants after the firing escaped from the scene.

#3: An armed trespasser has been killed on the Tajik-Afghan border in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region. According to the press center of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS), officers from SCNS’s office in GBAO jointly with border guards on a routine patrol spotted a trespasser who was illegally crossing the border river in the Rushan district late Thursday (July 31). When security officers and border guards tried to detain the trespasser, the last opened fire at them.  The trespasser was reportedly killed by return fire.

#4: Unknown gunmen shot dead district mayor for Mohammad Agha in eastern Logar province of Afghanistan, local officials said. Provincial governor spokesman, Din Mohammad Darwish, said the incident took place late Thursday night after a group of gunmen attacked the residence of Mohammad Agha district mayor Saifullah.