NATO is reporting the deaths of four ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, October 13th.
NATO is reporting the deaths of three ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in western Afghanistan on Thursday, October 14th.
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, October 14th.
OPEC set to maintain official oil output
Azerbaijani pilgrim killed in Iraq
Italy ready to send up to 100 extra trainers to Afghanistan
DFA identifies Pinoys killed in Afghanistan plane crash
French General Mixes Formula for a Bit of Afghan Calm
U.S. Aids Taliban to Attend Talks on Making Peace
Brigade linked to Afghan civilian deaths had aggressive, divergent war strategy -- By the time the 3,800-member brigade returned in July to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma, Wash., it had paid a steep price: 35 soldiers were killed in combat, six were dead from accidents and other causes, and 239 were wounded.
2 Turkish soldiers killed, 1 injured in clash with PKK
Reported security incidents
Baghdad:
#1: Unidentified gunmen riding in a taxi killed the Shiite cleric in the Orphalie district of central Baghdad, an interior ministry official said.
#2: One policeman was killed Thursday by a sticky bomb explosion in central Baghdad, according to a security source. “A bomb, attached to the vehicle of a policeman, went off in al-Saadon region, central Baghdad, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast injured a passing civilian,” he added.
#3: One civilian was killed and another one was wounded in a sticky bomb blast in eastern Baghdad, a police source said. “The bomb, stuck to a civilian car, went off in al-Talibiya region, eastern Baghdad, killing the driver and injuring the man beside him, and damaging the car,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#4: Four people were killed and seven were wounded when an improvised explosive device went off targeting the motorcade of al-Iraqiya List member Abdulkarim Mahoud in south of Baghdad, according to a security source. “The explosion took place in Jarf al-Nadaf region in Jisr Diala district, south of Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The politician survived the attempt on his life, while one of his bodyguards was wounded,” he added.
#5: update Four bombs exploded one after the other in western Baghdad, wounding nine people, including four policemen, police said.
Diyala Prv:
#1: In Diyala province, three people were wounded when a booby- trapped motorcycle exploded in the town of Buhruz south of the provincial capital of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, a source from Diyala's operations command told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
#2: On the same day, a woman was critically wounded when gunmen opened fire on her outside her house in western Baquba, the source said.
#3: Also in the province, a roadside bomb struck a U.S. patrol in the al-Sindiyah area north of Baquba, damaging a military vehicle, the source said without giving further details about casualties as the U.S. troops sealed off the scene.
Kirkuk:
#1: Two people have been injured when a group of unknown armed men, wearing military uniform, opened fire on them in northern Iraq’s Kirkuk city on Wednesday night, a source in the Joint Coordination Center in Kirkuk said on Thursday. “Three unknown armed men, dressed in military uniform, opened fire from a vehicle late Wednesday night in Kirkuk’s Shorja district, where a police force found two persons wounded by the attack and drove them to a nearby hospital,” the source added. He said the investigations pointed out that one of the wounded men was an officer in Kurdistan Region.
Mosul:
#1: One Iraqi soldier was wounded Wednesday in an armed attack in western Mosul, a police source said. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire on an army checkpoint in al-Arabi neighborhood, western Mosul, injuring a soldier, and fled to an unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Gunmen carrying pistols opened fire and killed a man in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
#3: Two policemen were wounded when attackers threw a bomb at a police patrol in western Mosul, police said.
Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Head of the security committee of Anbar council escaped on Wednesday an assassination attempt in southern Falluja, according to a security source. “Eifan Saadon survived on Wednesday evening (Oct. 13) an assassination attempt when a bomb exploded targeting his motorcade in Al-Bu Hatem region in al-Ameriya district, southern Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion damaged his vehicle,” he added, without giving further details.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan security forces backed by international coalition troops killed a Taliban senior leader along with two other militants in Afghanistan's southern Ghazni province, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF) said in a press release Thursday."Afghan and coalition forces killed Mohammad Ali, a Taliban senior leader and improvised explosive device (IED) expert in Ghazni province Wednesday," the press release added.
#2: Suspected US unmanned aircraft launched four missile strikes at a house and two vehicles in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border Wednesday evening, killing 11 militants, including three foreigners, said intelligence officials. The attacks occurred within about an hour in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, part of Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal region that is dominated by militant groups that often attack US and other foreign troops in Afghanistan. The first attack occurred at about 9 pm and targeted a house in Lataka village, killing four militants, said the intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media. Minutes later, a drone attacked a vehicle nearby, killing two foreign militants, said the officials. A second vehicle was attacked about 15 minutes later, killing three militants, including one foreigner, they said. The final attack targeted militants collecting bodies from the house destroyed in the first strike, killing two of them, said the officials.
#3: AN Australian soldier is in a satisfactory condition after sustaining a single, serious gunshot wound to the leg while on patrol in Afghanistan. The Defence website says his patrol was attacked by insurgents with a rocket propelled grenade and small arms fire on 13 October, in the Baluchi Valley region of Uruzgan Province. The soldier was a member of a joint Afghan and Australian patrol which was engaged by insurgents with a rocket propelled grenade and small arms fire yesterday, in the Baluchi Valley region of the Oruzgan province. No other soldiers were wounded.
#4: Taliban militants' attack in Kandahar, south of Afghanistan, wounded at least three people on Thursday morning, an eye witness said. "The attack occurred against a convoy of trucks in 3rd precinct of provincial capital Kandahar city at around 08:30 a.m. local time wounding three drivers," Asmatullah who escaped the attack told Xinhua. He also said that the attackers were riding motorbikes and made their good escape. Three trucks were also set on fire by the attackers. All the trucks were hired and served for NATO-led troops based in Kandahar, Asmatullah further said.
DoD: Spc. Matthew C. Powell
Thursday, October 14, 2010
War News for Thursday, October 14, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
War News for Wednesday, October 13, 2010
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, October 13th.
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, October 13th.
Russia refuses route for NATO supplies
Gains in Afghan Training, but Struggles in War
Catonsville soldier died of pulmonary embolism
Reported security incidents
Baghdad:
#1: One Iraqi soldier was killed Tuesday in a bomb blast in western Baghdad, according to a security source. “A roadside bomb went off Tuesday (Oct. 12) targeting the personal car of an army soldier in al-Jameaa neighborhood, western Baghdad, killing him on the spot,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Two soldiers were wounded when gunmen opened fire on them in western Baghdad on Tuesday, a security source said. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on an army vehicle patrol in al-Ameriya region, western Baghdad, injuring two soldiers,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#3: Five policemen were wounded Wednesday morning in a bomb blast in central Baghdad, according to a security source. “An improvised explosive device went off Wednesday morning (Oct. 13) near al-Watheq square in central Baghdad, targeting a police vehicle patrol, injuring five policemen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#4: Four persons have been injured in an explosive charge blast in central Baghdad on Wednesday, a Baghdad police source said. “An explosive charge, stuck in a civilian car blew up close to central Baghdad’s Alwiya Telephone Exchange Office, wounding four persons, who were driven to a nearby hospital,” the source added, giving no further details.
#5: An Interior Ministry entourage has come under attack by an explosive charge close to the passport department in central Baghdad, causing no human casualties, according to a Baghdad security source on Wednesday. “An explosive charge blew off against an Interior Ministry entourage close to the Zayouna Passport Department on Wednesday, without causing human casualies,” he said, without giving further details.
A bomb attached to a government car wounded two of its passengers and two passers-by, an interior ministry source said.
#6: Gunmen launched coordinated attacks on three Iraqi army security checkpoints in the Amiriya district of western Baghdad, killing one Iraqi soldier and wounding six others, an interior ministry source said.
#7: At least four explosions rocked western Baghdad on Wednesday. There are no reports about the targets and casualties so far
Diyala Prv:
#1: Ten people were wounded by an improvised explosive device blast in northeast of Baaquba on Wednesday, a police source said. “The bomb exploded on the main road of Sharban district in al-Muqdadiya, northeast of Baaquba, targeting a bus carrying Iranian visitors,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast wounded ten people, including seven Iranians and 3 Iraqis,” he added.
Missan Prv:
#1: Seven local-made bombs were defused Wednesday in Missan, media director of Missan police said. “Anti-explosives experts of Missan police department defused on Wednesday (Oct. 13) seven local-made bombs planted in several areas of Missan,” Ghassan Adnan Hamoudi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Kirkuk:
#1: An Iraqi civilian has been wounded in an armed attack by a group of unknown armed men in central Kirkuk, north Iraq, on Wednesday, a Kirkuk Joint Coordination Centre Spokesman said. “A group of armed men opened fire early today (Wednesday) on a civilian on the Baghdad Highway passing through northern Kirkuk, wounding the civilian, who is an employee in the North Oil Company,” he said, adding that the attackers escaped to an unknown destination.
#2: Meanwhile, a security source said that unknonwn armed men launched a rocket from a district, south of Kirkuk, against the Kirkuk Air base, home for the U.S. forces in the city. He did not give further details, admitting that the “Kirkuk police patrols failed to locate the site where the rocket landed.”
Mosul:
#1: Two Iraqi soldiers were wounded in a thermal bomb explosion in western Mosul, a police source said on Tuesday. “A thermal bomb exploded targeting an army vehicle patrol in al-Islah al-Zeraie neighborhood, western Mosul, injuring two soldiers, who were carried to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: One civilian was killed on Tuesday by mistake during cracking down traffickers on Iraqi-Syrian borders in northwest of Mosul, according to a security source. “The civilian was killed when border guards were tracking down traffickers in al-Rabiaa district, northwest of Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An insurgent commander from the Haqqani network and three other militants were killed in a firefight with NATO and Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance said Wednesday. Ansari Khan, a Haqqani leader accused of conducting attacks on coalition forces, died in a clash in Khost province's Spera district in an overnight operation Tuesday, a NATO statement said. As the security force moved in on a compound, two insurgents threw a grenade and opened fire. Retaliatory fire killed four militants, including Khan, it said.
#2: In southern Afghanistan, Ahmed Khan, chief of Dihrawud district in Uruzgan province, was fatally shot by insurgents Tuesday at a market, according to Mohammad Naeem, the district police chief.
#3: In the west, a joint force operation in Herat province killed "several" militants in a raid targeting an unidentified Taliban leader allegedly responsible for a recent ambush that killed two Spanish soldiers, NATO said. The force came under small-arms fire in Obe district and troops responded, killing the insurgents.
#4: Six Filipinos, one Indian national and a Kenyan were killed on Tuesday when a cargo plane crashed outside Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, the Afghan army said on Wednesday. The U.S.-based company operating the aircraft, National Air Cargo, said the civilian cargo transport plane was en route from sprawling U.S. Bagram Air Base to Kabul when it hit a mountain 20-30 km (15-20 miles) east of Kabul.
#5: A government official says suspected militants have killed three anti-Taliban tribal elders tasked with protecting their areas from insurgents in northwestern Pakistan. Two elders also were wounded in the overnight shootout in the Bazai area of Mohmand tribal region near Afghanistan. A government administrator Javed Khan said Wednesday that the shootout occurred at a checkpoint set up along a road. The alleged insurgents fired on the tribesmen when they were asked to halt.
#6: Afghan and ISAF troops killed several insurgents in western Herat province in an operation on Tuesday targeting a Taliban leader from neighbouring Badghis province responsible for attacks and kidnapping, ISAF said in a statement. It was not yet clear if the targeted insurgent was among the dead, the statement said.
#7: update: Taliban insurgents fired a rocket into a US helicopter yesterday, killing an Afghan interpreter and wounding eight soldiers in eastern Afghanistan, a key flashpoint in the country’s war. The US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) took nearly a full day to confirm that an explosion on the aircraft was caused by an insurgent attack, which the Taliban militia had been quick to claim. A correspondent in Kunar province said he saw three helicopters flying over the Ghash area of Marawar district and then heard the sound of rocket fire, after which two helicopters flew off and a gun battle broke out. “Eight people were wounded and one killed after a rocket-propelled-grenade was fired at an International Security Assistance Force helicopter in Kunar province today,” the military said. There were 26 people on board the helicopter, which ISAF identified as a US CH-47 Chinook. The helicopter had just landed at a military outpost and was off-loading through the rear ramp when the RPG was fired into the cargo bay. “The explosion resulted in one Afghan interpreter killed, seven ISAF service members and one Afghan border police member wounded,” the military said. (NATO release)
DoD: Lance Cpl. John T. Sparks
DoD: Sgt. Frank R. Zaehringer III
DoD: Staff Sgt. Dave J. Weigle
DoD: Spc. David A. Hess
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
War News for Tuesday, October 12, 2010
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an explosion aboard a helicopter which had just landed in Kunar province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, October 12th. Eight additional soldiers were wounded in the incident.
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Monday, October 11th.
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, October 12th.
Anguish for families of Iraq's disappeared
Harrison man critically wounded in Afghanistan
Paradise High grad wounded in Afghanistan
Afghanistan: war casualties soar in Kandahar hospital: -- (snip) -- (ICRC), registered almost twice as many new patients with weapon-related injuries in August and September 2010 as during the same months last year – close to 1,000 compared with just over 500 during the same period in 2009.
Italy May Start Afghanistan Withdrawal in 2011, Frattini Tells Repubblica
Footage suggests U.S. killed Briton
Tangled Tale of American Found in Afghanistan
NATO helicopters breach Pakistani airspace again
Reported security incidents
Baghdad:
#1: Five people were killed and two were wounded by gunmen in Baghdad on Monday, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen stormed the al-Warkaa exchange office near al-Said al-Sultan mosque in al-Rashied street, central Baghdad, killing five persons, including three employees, and injuring two more,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency,.
Gunmen attacked a currency exchange bureau in central Baghdad, killing five people, wounding two and robbing it of an unspecified amount of money, an interior ministry source said.
Diyala Prv:
#1: An armed group attacked a jewelery store in Muqdadiya, northeast of Diala, this was the second attack of its kind in Iraq in less than 24 hours, a police source said Tuesday. “An unknown armed group robbed a jewelery store in the main market in Muqdadiya, northeast of Baaquba,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The group stole 75 million dinars and all jewels in the store,” he added.
Mosul:
#1: An explosive charge went off Monday in front of the house of an official of the Ninewa Electoral Commission in northern Mosul, a police source said. “The bomb exploded Monday (Oct. 11) in front of the house of Mohammad Hani, the director of the legal and political blocs department of the Ninewa Electoral Commission, in al-Arabi neighborhood, northern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The blast left no casualties, but caused material damage to the house,” he added.
#2: One civilian was wounded Monday in clashes between gunmen and an Iraqi army force in eastern Mosul, according to a security source. “A passing civilian was wounded Monday afternoon (Oct. 11) in clashes that erupted between gunmen and army forces in al-Zahraa neighborhood in eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Also on Tuesday, a roadside bomb struck an Iraqi police patrol in the border town of al-Qaem, near Syria. Three police officers were wounded, officials said.
#2: An Iraqi police officer is dead and another is injured after a roadside bomb struck a police foot patrol, Falluja police officials said. The incident took place in the town of al-Gharma, about 15 kilometers east of Falluja.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A rocket fired by suspected Taliban militants struck a moving vehicle in Yahyakhel district of the eastern province of Paktika, the Interior Ministry said. 'Six people, including two children, one woman and three men, were martyred in the attack,' it said.
#2: Separately, four civilians were killed and two others were injured when a roadside bomb blew up their vehicle in Shah Joy district of the southern province of Zabul Monday night, said Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar, spokesman for the provincial governor.
#3: Eight Taliban insurgents were killed in an air attack Monday in Afghanistan's western Herat province, police spokesman in the province Noor Khan Nikzad said Tuesday. "The Taliban rebels were in meeting inside a house in Tagab-e- Yari village of Aoba district Monday evening when aircraft targeted their hideout killing eight rebels including their commander Mullah Ghousuding on the spot," Nikzad told Xinhua.
#4: Six Taliban fighters including shadowy district governor were killed in separate operations in western Herat province Monday, a statement released by police department here Tuesday said. In the first operation, according to the statement, carried out in Qosh Asia village of Kushk-e-Rubatsangi district as a result four Taliban insurgents including shadow district governor Mullah Zabihullah were killed. The second operation conducted in Shorab Dahandarzak village of Kushk-e-Kohna district, which left two Taliban militants dead, the statement emphasized.
#5: A police vehicle was destroyed in an ambush Tuesday morning in Hazar Ganji area in the outskirts of provincial capital Quetta in the southwest Balochistan province, local police said. No casualties were reported in the hand grenade attack on the police van, police sources added.
Monday, October 11, 2010
War News for Monday, October 11, 2010
NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from separate IED attacks in undisclosed locations in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, October 10th.
U.S. Presses Iraqi Leaders to Broaden Coalition
Reported security incidents
Baghdad:
#1: A roadside bomb struck a convoy of Major General Abdul Munim Saeed, head of the department of forensic of the Interior Ministry, in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Zayouna, a police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Saeed and two passersby were injured and his driver was killed, the source said.
#2: Also in eastern Baghdad, four civilians were wounded by a roadside bombing near the Al-Shaab Football Stadium, the source added.
Al Haswa:
#1: Earlier in the day, the police said that four men were shot dead and two critically wounded when gunmen in military uniforms stormed two houses in the village of al-Haswa in the early hours of the day, near the town of Yousifiyah, some 30 km south of Baghdad.
In a pre-dawn attack in the town of Yusufiyah, gunmen wearing military uniforms hauled six men out of their homes and shot them. Four died but two survived with injuries, an interior ministry official said. Another interior ministry official said all the victims were members of the Sahwa (Awakening) militia that was instrumental in turning the tide against Al-Qaeda.
Abu Ghraib:
#1: In addition, a roadside bomb went off near an Iraqi army patrol in Abu Ghraib area, west of Baghdad, wounding two soldiers and six civilians, including a child, the source said.
Kirkuk:
#1: The physician who was wounded on Monday when a roadside bomb went off in southern Kirkuk city was driving to work in an ambulance, said a local security source. “The blast took place near the Vegetables Market, southern Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He explained that the physician was driving to work in an ambulance to avoid gunmen attacks that might target him because of his work as a physician. Earlier, the same source said that a physician was wounded on Monday when a roadside bomb went off in southern Kirkuk city. “The physician works for the Daqouk Hospital, 35 km southern Kirkuk,” a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Al Anbar Prv:
#1: In a separate incident, a policeman was killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle while on patrol in the town of al-Saqlawiyah, near Fallujah City, some 50 km west of Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
#2: Three gunmen stormed the house of a policeman and killed him in a pre-dawn attack in Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.
#3: A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi police patrol wounded four policemen in Qaim, 300 km (185 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Pakistan has initiated a probe into the disappearance of 500 oil tankers and containers carrying supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan. According to the Dawn, 500 oil tankers and containers had left Port Qasim in Karachi for Kandahar, but they did not reach the Pakistan-Afghan border near Chaman. A Pakistani customs official said that the investigation was undertaken after the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of reports about the missing vehicles. "We are optimistic that we will trace the missing vehicles and their documents," the newspaper quoted the official, as saying.
#2: (not confirmed) Two Indians were killed in a missile attack launched by the Taliban on an Indian NGO’s office situated near a US airbase in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, a media report said Monday. Qari Omar Haqqani, a spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban, told reporters from an undisclosed location that the outfit had attacked the office of the Indian NGO with missiles in which three people, including two Indian workers, were killed, Pakistani daily The News International reported. The nationality of the third person who died in the attack is yet to be ascertained. Haqqani said the Taliban also fired missiles at the nearby US airbase, injuring seven soldiers of the Afghan National Army. At least 10 missiles were fired at the two places, he said.
#3: A roadside bomb exploded alongside a German convoy in Afghanistan, the German military said in Berlin late Sunday. No one was injured in Sunday's attack east of Kunduz and the convoy's vehicles also escaped damage because the bomb exploded just after the troops had passed by on their way back to their base, a military spokesman said.
#4: A US drone strike killed seven militants at a compound in Pakistan's tribal North Waziristan region Sunday, security officials said. The compound was located by a road in Shewa district about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of the region's main town of Miranshah. The drone fired four missiles at the compound and two vehicles parked outside were also destroyed, an intelligence official in Miranshah said. "At least seven militants were killed and three wounded," a security official in Peshawar said, raising his earlier casualty estimate. The casualties were confirmed by two other intelligence officials in Miranshah.
#5: Airstrike carried out by NATO-led forces late Sunday killed 15 Taliban militants in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province, provincial police chief said Monday. "Fifteen militants armed with heavy and light weapons were planing to carry out attacks on government interests in Zarmal area but an air support team of international forces pounded their position killing the rebels late Sunday," Dault Khan Zazai told Xinhua. The police chief said initial reports indicated that several foreign fighters were among those militants killed in the raid.
MoD: Sergeant Peter Anthony Rayner
DoD: Hospital Corpsman Edwin Gonzalez
Sunday, October 10, 2010
News of the Day for Sunday, October 10, 2010
Reported Security Incidents
Note: For whatever reason, western news services are not bothering to report on security incidents in Iraq today. All of these are from Aswat al-Iraq.
Baghdad
Colonel in the Criminal Investigations Department is seriously injured by a bomb attached to his vehicle in al-Dawlai’e, northwestern Baghdad.
A policeman is injured by a bomb attached to his vehicle, and a bystander is also injured in al-Hurriya.
A police officer is killed in front of his house by an assailant using a silenced weapon in al-Amiriya.
A policeman is injured by a sticky bomb on al-Rab’ie street, al-Zayouneh area, western Baghdad.
Fallujah
One police officer is killed and two injured by an IED attack on a checkpoint.
Mosul
Armed attack on a police foot patrol kills one police officer, and two other people, apparently bystanders.
Near al-Leheis, on the highway between Basra and Nassiriya
Three civilians killed, two injured, by an IED.
Other News of the Day
Iraqi court dismisses charges against two men accused in the mob killing of six British troops in Basra in 2003. According to The Guardian, "The judge said the evidence before him meant he could reach no other verdict. However, he acknowledged he treated more leniently acts of violence he deemed to be carried out in the name of resistance. 'If they are here for resistance against occupiers, I will try to lessen the sentence,' he said."
AP's Qassim Abdul-Zahra reports that the Iraqiya bloc is willing to consider joining a broad coalition government with Maliki as Prime Minster, "as long as it gets an equal share of power." On the one hand that would not seem to be on offer, on the other hand many are not interpreting it as good news even if it were. Excerpt:
The stunning turnabout is sure to inflame Iraq's minority Sunnis, whose crucial support helped the secular Iraqiya movement edge ahead of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's political coalition in the March 7 parliamentary election. U.S. diplomats worry that Sunnis who feel sidelined by backroom dealmaking over formation of a new government could spark unrest.
A key Iraqiya leader said Sunday the party is no longer insisting on receiving the top job as long as it gets an equal share of power in Iraq's government. It marks the strongest concession to date by Iraqiya, and could break the seven-month political impasse that has stymied Iraq from seating a new government. . . .
Al-Maliki also got a boost last month by forging an alliance with anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr that all but sealed the prime minister's hold on his job. That, too, prompted an outcry from Sunnis.
Al-Danbous said the negotiating was far from over, however, noting that it is still not clear what top role Iraqiya might get as part of the deal - especially since al-Maliki has all but promised Kurdish parties that they will keep the presidency post. It still could take months - until early 2011 - before a government is formed, al-Danbous said.
From Global Security, a bit of background on the Yazidi:
Yazidis [also Yezidi, Azidi, Zedi, or Izdi] are a syncretistic religious group (or a set of several groups), with ancient origins and comprising Gnostic core belief structure with other elements of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Manicheism, and Islam. Yazidi do not intermarry with outsiders or accept converts. Many Yazidi now consider themselves to be Kurds, while others define themselves as both religiously and ethnically distinct from Muslim Kurds. Most of the 700,000 Yazidi reside in the North of the country.
The religion is little known to outsiders but contains elements of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and also includes the veneration of the Peacock Angel. . . .
The Yazidi have hiden many aspects of their religion from the dominant Muslims around them. Indeed, only the fully initiated actually know the full theology, even among the Yazidi themselves. . . .
By early 2007 non-Muslims in Iraq, including Chaldo-Assyrian Christians, Yazidis, Sabean Mandaeans, and other minority religious communities faced grave conditions. These groups faced widespread violence from Sunni insurgents and foreign jihadis, and they also suffer pervasive discrimination and marginalization at the hands of the national government, regional governments, and para-state militias, including those in Kurdish areas. As a result, non-Muslims were fleeing the country in large numbers.
Sabean Mandaeans and Yazidis have suffered abuses similar to Christians. Foreign jihadis, Sunni insurgents, and Shi’a militias view members of these groups as infidels or outsiders. In addition, religious minority communities often lack the tribal base or militia structures that might otherwise provide security. As such, these groups are often targeted by both Sunni insurgents and Shi’a militias. The risks are particularly severe for isolated minority communities in areas where foreign jihadis and Sunni insurgents remain active. Some of this violence stems from the reported tendency of foreign jihadis and Sunni insurgents to associate Iraqi Christians and other non-Muslims with the United States and the U.S.-led military intervention. In other instances, however, religious minorities appear to be the victims of escalating intra-Muslim violence.
Afghanistan Update
Five civilians are killed by a roadside bomb in Paktia province.
An unstated number of Afghan soldiers are besieged in Takhar province, have been trapped for 3 days and have run out of food and supplies.
Pakistan reopens the Torkham crossing to NATO vehicles, four days after the U.S. apologized for a helicopter attack that killed two Pakistani soldiers. It will take some time to clear the hundreds of stranded trucks.
Hamid Karzai names former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani to be head of the "peace council" charged with negotiating with Taliban insurgents. This Reuters story gives a useful synopsis of Rabbani's history. The chances that the Taliban would actually agree to a negotiated settlement are considered fairly remote by many observers.
Afghanistan's (legitimate) exports are down sharply this year, which the Chamber of Commerce attributes largely to difficulties in shipping through Pakistan.
NATO says it has killed a top Taliban commander and two associates in Badghis province. "'Mullah Jamaluddin was a very important person who received support from much of the local community,' [provincial official Sharaf Uddin] Majidi told The Associated Press. 'His death will certainly lead to increased peace and stability.'" (That would not necessarily seem to follow. -- C) NATO also said that "Another Taliban leader, Ajmal Agha Jan, also died Saturday in southern Helmand province's Marjah district after he pulled a pistol on a joint force that raided his compound." "Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi last week accused NATO of engaging in a propaganda campaign to demoralize the insurgents' moral by inventing Taliban leaders and alleging they were killed or captured. 'Most of the commanders' names NATO are using don't even exist,' Ahmadi told The Associated Press. "This is just a game from the American side, nothing else."
Quote of the Day
Nine years ago today we invaded the nation of Afghanistan. I’d just turned 40. I had a Discman and an Oldsmobile and had gotten really into LiveJournal. That was a long time ago. It was so long ago, does anybody remember why we're even there? I think everyone wanted to capture Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. But he got away sometime in the first month or so. He left. We stayed. Looking back now, that makes no sense.
Needing to find a new reason for the mission, we decided to overthrow the religious extremists who were running Afghanistan. Which we did. Sorta. Unlike Osama, they never left. Why not? Well, they were Afghans, it was their country. And, strangely enough, a lot of other Afghans supported them. To this day, the Taliban only have 25,000 armed fighters. Do you really think an army that tiny could control and suppress a nation of 28 million against their will? What's wrong with this picture? WTF is really going on here?
Michael Moore
Saturday, October 9, 2010
War News for Saturday, October 9, 2010
The Italian DM is reporting the deaths of four soldiers in a roadside bombing in the Gulistan district, Farah province, Afghanistan on Saturday, October 9th. One additional soldier was wounded in the attack.
NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers from separate IED attacks in undisclosed locations in southern Afghanistan on Friday, October 8th.
Reported security incidents
Baghdad:
#1: An Iraqi soldier was severely wounded from a bullet shot by a sniper hiding in a building in Raas al-Hawaash area in al-Aadhamiya district, where clashes that erupted with gunmen later left two civilians injured, according to a police source on Friday. “The Iraqi soldier was standing in a checkpoint in the area when he received a sniper bullet. He was seriously wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Clashes erupted after the incident between the checkpoint personnel and unidentified gunmen, leaving two civilians wounded,” he added.
#2: Four civilians were wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the southern Iraq area of al-Dora on Saturday, according to a local security source. “A roadside IED planted near a busy shopping market on 60 street in al-Dora, southern Baghdad, went off today (Oct. 9), leaving four civilians wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Basra:
#1: Four prison guards in Basra were wounded when some inmates attacked them with hand-grenades on Friday, according to a local security source in the province. “One of the guards is seriously injured before security forces wielded control over the situation by throwing tear gas canisters on the assailants in al-Maaqal jail,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Armed men in two boats wounded seven security guards when they attacked a prison situated alongside a river in Basra, 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, a police source said. A riot broke out amongst prisoners after the attack and security forces responded by using tear gas.
Abu Ghraib:
#1: A civilian man was killed and four of his family members wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen on his house in the western Baghdad district of Abu Ghraib on Saturday, according to a security source. “The gunmen raided a house in the village of Hemeid, Abu Ghraib, western Baghdad, leaving the house owner killed and four of his family relatives wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Mosul:
#1: Three civilians were wounded in an improvised explosive device attack in western Mosul city on Saturday, a police source in Ninewa said. “An IED went off on Saturday near a local police patrol on Ibn al-Atheer intersection, western Mosul, leaving three civilians who happened to be near the attack site wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “None of the patrolmen were injured in the explosion,” he added, not giving more information.
Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Gunmen wearing black uniforms on Saturday shot dead three people, two of them brothers, near the restive city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, police said. "It happened early in the morning when the gunmen entered the victims' homes," said Lieutenant Colonel Yasin Mohammed, adding that a fourth person was shot and wounded. Mohammed said the victims were hauled out and shot in front of their homes in the village of Garma, east of Fallujah in predominantly Sunni Arab Anbar province. All four worked for the ministry of higher education, the brothers as administrators and the others as a guard and driver, the police officer said.
#2: A leader of a sahwa (awakening) group survived an assassination attempt with an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to his vehicle in eastern al-Falluja city on Saturday, according to a local police source in al-Anbar province. “Sheikh Hikmat Muhammad, a leader of the al-Karma District Sahwa Group, escaped an attempt on his life with an IED attached by unidentified persons to his civilian vehicle in eastern Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A female British aid worker kidnapped during an ambush last month was killed during a rescue attempt by international forces in Afghanistan, Britain's foreign secretary said Saturday. The aid worker, identified as Linda Norgrove, was killed Friday night during an operation to free her, Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement from London. Norgrove and three colleagues were kidnapped in eastern Kunar province on Sept. 26 after being ambushed. Police fought a gunbattle with the kidnappers near the attack site before the assailants fled.
#2: Gunmen armed with a rocket torched 29 NATO oil tankers in southwestern Pakistan before dawn Saturday. Two responding police officers were wounded. Local government official Abdul Mateen said the attack occurred in the area of Mithri, about 120 miles (200 kilometers) east of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. He said the attackers used guns and fired a rocket to destroy the tankers. At least 10 gunmen were involved in the attack, police official Jamil Khan said. The oil tankers were parked near a roadside restaurant. When local police responded, the gunmen fired on them before fleeing. One officer was wounded by a bullet, while another suffered slight burns as he tried to stop the blaze, Mateen said.
#3: An AUSTRALIAN soldier is recovering in Afghanistan after he was wounded by an exploding roadside bomb, the Australian Defence Force (ADF)says. The soldier from the Special Operations Task Group suffered superficial wounds when the vehicle he was travelling in struck an improvised explosive device (IED) in northern Kandahar six days ago, a statement from the ADF said today.
#4: NATO-led troops killed two Taliban commanders in Afghanistan's Wardak province, a press release of the alliance released here Saturday said. "The International Security Assistance Force confirmed Mullah Hezbollah, the deputy Taliban district leader for Chak-e Wardak of Wardak province, was killed during an overnight operation in the province Thursday," the press release said. Another commander, according to the press release, is Qari Sulayman, who was responsible for a Taliban senior leader responsible for coordinating and conducting improvised explosive device, indirect and direct fire attacks against coalition forces operating in Tange Valley. Based on intelligence tips, the security force targeted a series of compounds east of the village of Paysh Kor in Chak-e Wardak district, the press release further said.
DoD: Cpl. Stephen C. Sockalosky
Friday, October 8, 2010
War News for Friday, October 08, 2010
RTT News is reporting the death of a German ISAF soldier from a suicide bombing/mortar and rifle fire attack in Puli Khumri, Baghlan province, Afghanistan on Thursday, October 7th. Six additional soldiers were wounded in the attack. Here's the ISAF statement.
NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an insurgent attack in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, October 8th.
Security raised after Pakistan Sufi shrine attack - twin suicide attacks at a Sufi shrine
U.S. security funds going to Taliban, report finds
Nato supply truckers desperate to ‘go home alive’
Ex-Guantanamo detainee sues US for damages
As Fallujah Rebuilds, the Bitterness of War Remains
Reported security incidents
Baghdad:
#1: Two persons were wounded Thursday by an improvised explosive device in central Baghdad, a police source said. “The bomb exploded inside a shoes store in al-Resafi square in al-Rashied street, central Baghdad, injuring two people,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: A civilian man was killed and another wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to their vehicle went off on Thursday, a local police source said. “An IED attached to a civilian vehicle went off in al-Jami’a neighborhood, western Baghdad, leaving the driver killed and another civilian inside wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Iskandariya:
#1: One Sahwa fighter was killed Thursday in an armed attack in north of Hilla, a police source said. “Unidentified gunmen killed a Sahwa fighter in front of his house in al-Askandariya district, north of Hilla,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
#2: Ten civilians were wounded in a bike bomb blast north of al-Hilla city on Thursday, according to a local police source in Babel province. “The blast took place in al-Iskan complex of al-Iskandariya area, (50 km) north of Hilla, leaving 10 civilians injured,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Kirkuk:
#1: “Iraqi police forces today coordinated with U.S. troops to defuse a car bomb in the Taza district of Kirkuk, without causing any casualties or damage,” the source added.
Mosul:
#1: The Ninewa Provincial Council’s Legal Committee Chairman said on Thursday that he escaped an attempt on his life after gunmen opened fire on his motorcade in central Mosul city earlier in the day. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire on my motorcade, namely the vehicle I boarded after I had left the provincial council building on al-Dawasa street, central Mosul,” Yahya Abad Mahjoub told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “No casualties have taken place. There were only minor damage to the top of the armored vehicle I was inside,” he added.
Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A bomb attack inside a mosque killed the governor of Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province and 15 others as they attended Friday prayers, the local police chief said. The attack on governor Mohammed Omar happened in neighbouring Takhar province, where he had a home. At least 20 people were wounded.
#2: A German soldier was killed and six others were injured in a suicide-bomb attack in Afghanistan on Thursday. The Germans were patrolling in Puli Khumri, capital of the northern province of Baghlan, when the bomber detonated an explosive device attached to his body close to the military convoy. The explosion was followed by mortar and rifle fire attack by militants. ISAF troops repelled the attack after hour-long exchange of fire.
DoD: Lance Cpl. Scott A. Lynch
