War News for Monday, August 11, 2014

Afghanistan: No justice for thousands of civilians killed in US/NATO operations


Reported security incidents
#1: A blast occurred in Qandhari Bazar area of Chaman Monday morning and reports suggested that several persons were injured in the explosion. According to the sources, a powerful explosion occurred in Qandhari Bazar area today morning that injured several persons. Security forces told that four persons were wounded in the suspected motorcycle blast.

#2: Afghan forces during cleanup operations launched Monday morning have killed 22 Taliban militants including two local commanders in Ghazni province, an army spokesman in the province Nazifullah Sultani said.

#3: About 51 Taliban militants have been killed in Afghan security forces' cleanup operations across the country within day, the country's Interior Ministry said Monday morning. "Afghan National Security Forces conducted cleanup operations and battled the Taliban militants in Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunduz, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Wardak, Logar and Helmand provinces within the past 24 hours, killing 51 armed Taliban rebels,"the ministry said in a statement providing daily operational updates.

#4-5: Six Afghan policemen and three civilians were killed in two separate bomb attacks in eastern province of Ghazni on Monday morning, a provincial government spokesman said.

#4: "A police van set off a roadside bomb in Andar district early Monday morning, and the explosion left six police cops dead and two others wounded," spokesman Shafiq Nang told Xinhua.

#5: In neighboring Gilan district, three men died as their motorcycle ran over a roadside bomb nearly at the same time, according to the spokesman.

#6: In another development, four militants and one policeman were killed and six Taliban rebels and two policemen were wounded in a clash which took place after Taliban attacked police checkpoints in Aqcha district of northern Jawzjan province overnight, the provincial police chief Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani told Xinhua, adding that a Taliban local leader named Qari Sadroddin was among the killed.

#7: 52 rockets shells fired by Pakistani forces on Kunar province last night. Col. Abdul Habib Sayeedkhail police chief of the province told BNA, 52 rockets shells fired by Pakistani forces on Dangam, Shigal and Marawar districts of Kunar province, as a result of which a woman and a man were seriously injured.

#8: The Taliban militants have ambushed senior government officials including the provincial governor in northeastern Badakhshan province. According to local government officials, the senior government officials have been trapped in the area and clashes continue to end the Taliban siege. The incident took place in Jurm district and the provincial intelligence chief, governor spokesman and police chief are also among those trapped in the area.

News of the Day for Sunday, August 10, 2014

Suicide bomber targeting an ISAF convoy in Kabul kills 4 civilian bystanders, injures dozens. An ISAF vehicle is lightly damaged. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claims responsibility.

I don't know why I bother to link to this garbage, maybe just so nobody will accuse me of ignoring it. The Interior Ministry is really outdoing itself today, claiming 96 Taliban killed in the past 24 hours, which is three or four times the usual, with the usual zero government or civilian casualties. Sure.

The Independent Electoral Commission begins the process of formally invalidating ballots. (This is going to be at least as bad as Florida and the hanging chads, I expect.)

Afghan exports unexpectedly fall 20% in the first quarter. (This refers to legal exports, such as dried fruits and carpets, not Afghanistan's leading export which by all accounts is doing just fine, thank you.) The Chamber of Commerce blames this on political instability surrounding the disputed presidential election, but I must say it's hard for me to see what the link is.

Britain's Prince Harry recalls his service in Afghanistan. "Prince Harry has recalled the ''horrendous'' images he saw during two tours of Afghanistan when he encountered children who had died from roadside bombs and soldiers lying on the battlefield." He served as a helicopter pilot who transported casualties to the hospital.

In Iraq,  the Interior Minister claims IS murdered 500 Yazidis. In better news, Kurdish forces create an escape corridor from Mt. Sinjar and tens of thousands of people make it to a refugee camp. However, conditions there are still grim. The refugees tell horrific stories. "Maher, 16, of the Qassem family, but from the village of Yarmouk, said he watched with binoculars that he stole from a soldier, as Islamic State fighters stopped tens of people. "They separated the men and women, and they took some of the women away on trucks. They shot the men," he said. "I went crazy. I couldn't sleep, eat or drink, I couldn't talk to anybody."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is in Iraq to discuss humanitarian aid  while U.S. airstrikes on IS vehicles continue. No major territorial gains on any side are reported.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/08/09/4061390/thousands-from-iraq-minority-flee.html#storylink=cpy

War News for Saturday, August 9, 2014

Reported security incidents
#1: AT least nine army officers have been killed in separate roadside bombings in Afghanistan. DEFENCE ministry officials say the officers were killed during combat operations while trying to rid the area of insurgents.

#2: Separately, three army officers and three civilians were injured by a bomb planted along a footpath in Kabul Saturday morning, Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.

#3: At least four people were killed and two others injured after unidentified militants from Afghanistan stormed the house of an anti-Taliban militia leader in Upper Dir on Friday night.

#4: About 59 militants have been killed in Afghan army operations across the country over the last two days, said the Defense Ministry on Saturday morning. The statement also confirmed that nine army soldiers were killed in roadside bombings over the same period.

#5: 133 rockets shells fired by Pakistani forces on Dangam district, Kunar province last night. As a result of the rocket shells a civilian was martyred and a residential house has been destroyed.

#6: District intelligence chief for Sherin Tagab was killed following an ambush by Taliban militants in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan. According to local government officials, the incident took place on Saturday in Khawajah Sabz Posh district while the district chief was on his way to Sherin Tagab district. The district administrative chief, Loqman Gaharyak, said the driver of Sherin Tagab district intelligence chief was also killed following the ambush.

#7: A heavy explosion was heard in capital Kabul on Saturday afternoon, leaving at least one person dead and another one injured. The official further added that the blast took place after a magnetic bomb planted in a police vehicle went off. Stanikzai further added that the target of the blast was apparently a vehicle of Wardak provincial council member.

#8: A rocket landed within the vicinity of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) facility near the Kabul International Airport late Friday night. The alliance following an online statement statement said, “We can confirm that one rocket impacted NKAIA last night, resulting in minor damage.”

War News for Friday, August 8, 2014

Obama Allows Limited Airstrikes on ISIS

EU deploys 100 additional observers to assess Afghan vote audit


Reported security incidents
#1: An Afghan official says Taliban fighters stormed a police checkpoint overnight in southern Helmand province, killing four policemen. Deputy district Governor Mohammad Rassoul says the attack happened in Sangin district and that the Taliban have captured the checkpoint.

#2: At least 12 people, including two police personnel, were wounded in a remote-controlled explosion in Chaman Town, a township that shares border with Afghanistan, on Thursday. According to a senior police officer, the target was a police patrol vehicle. "The improvised explosive device (IED) was rigged to a motorbike which was parked near a hotel on Mall Road in Chaman. The bomb was detonated remotely when the police vehicle passed by," said Mohammed Ashraf, a police officer in Chaman.

#3: A roadside bomb struck the vehicle of district governor in Sangin district of Helmand province on Friday, killing and injuring several persons. "I along with an army officer were going to inspect a checkpoint in Sarwan Qala area of Sangin district this morning at 09:00 a.m. but a roadside bomb organized by militants struck our vehicle injuring both of us besides killing and injuring few others," Sayed Suliman Shah, the governor of Sangin district, told Xinhua from hospital bed.

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.