War News for Thursday, March 18, 2010

Taliban Hit Back in Marja With a Campaign of Intimidation:

CIA director says secret attacks in Pakistan have hobbled al-Qaeda:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Six persons have been injured in an explosive charge blast in the capital Baghdad, a local security source said on Wednesday. “This evening, an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by unknown men in al-Waziriya neighborhood, northeastern Baghdad, hit a military convoy, wounding four civilians and two servicemen,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Seven policemen were wounded late Wednesday by a bomb explosion in northern Baghdad, a police source said. “An improvised explosive device went off targeting a police vehicle patrol near Sahet Adan in al-Hourriya neighborhood, northern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Unknown gunmen killed a woman on Thursday after storming her brother’s house in southern Baghdad, a police source said.

#4: A taxi driver was killed on Thursday by gunmen while driving his car in northeastern Baghdad, a police source said.

#5: Gunmen using silencers wounded an official working with the Iraq Human Rights ministry in the Ghazaliya district of western Baghdad, police said.


Karbala:
#1: Security forces defused an improvised explosive device on Thursday on the road that leads to a university in western Karbala, according to the media director of the Karbala police. “The 20kg-C4 bomb was placed on the highway leading to the Ahl al-Beit university in western Karbala,” Major Alaa al-GHanemi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Shirqat:
#1: Two Iraq security officers were kidnapped and killed by an armed group in the district of Shirqat, 280 kilometers north of Baghdad, Iraqi police announced on Thursday. Iraqi police told the German Press Agency dpa "An armed group kidnapped the two men, one of whom was in the army and the other in the police, while they were driving in a private car near Shirqat, and killed them shortly after." "Both bodies were found decapitated near the village where the victims lived," police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suicide-bomber in southern Afghanistan blew himself up while putting on a vest of explosives, an official said. The explosion occurred in a house in Gereshk town in Helmand province Wednesday night. 'The blast also wounded a child,' a spokesperson for the local administration said.

#2: Several people were injured in blasts in southwest Pakistan's Balochistan on Thursday, local sources said. At least two persons were injured in a blast in Khuzdar, police said.

#3: Meanwhile, three people were injured in another blast near a school in Dera Bugti, a district located in the southwest of Balochistan province, police sources added. According to the police sources, unidentified men attached explosive device with a cycle and parked it at Achanak Chowk. Later, they detonated the explosive device with a remote control. As a result, three passerby suffered serious injuries. The injured were rushed to hospital.


MoD: Captain Martin Driver

DoD: Spc. Steven J. Bishop

War News for Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers in a roadside bombing approximately 20km north of Musa Qal'ah, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Tuesday, March 17th.

MNF-Iraq (OIF) is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - North soldier in an indirect fire attack on their Diyala province base on Saturday, March 13th. Two additional soldiers were wounded in the attack.

MNF-Iraq (OIF) is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - North soldier from non-combat related causes on Saturday, March 13th. No other details were released.

MNF-Iraq (OIF) is reporting the death of a Multi-National Division - North soldier in a vehicle roll-over while conducting a patrol in an undisclosed area in northern Iraq on Monday, March 15th. Three additional soldiers were wounded.


Followers of Sadr Emerge Stronger After Iraq Elections:

OPEC set to maintain oil output levels:

Forces in Afghanistan under NATO command:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Tuesday A bomb attached to a car wounded three people in southern Baghdad, the Baghdad security spokesman's office said.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: Police also announced that the house of a former high-ranking army officer named Maged Mahmoud al-Zawbai was attacked with explosives by militants on Tuesday night in the area of Abu Ghraib, 20 km west of Baghdad. He was injured in attack.


Mussayab:
#1: twin bomb attacks in the town of Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of the capital, killed eight people. The bombs went off within minutes of one another after attackers attached two bombs to passengers cars.

Eight people were killed and 11 wounded when two sticky bombs exploded in separate attacks five minutes apart in the town of Mussayab, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Hilla:
#1: A total of 15 civilians were wounded on Tuesday in two explosions in north of Hilla city, a police source said.“Two bombs, stuck to two busses, went off in north of Hilla on Tuesday (March 16), injuring 15 civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A U.S. vehicle was burned on Tuesday as a result of a bomb explosion in north of Hilla, a security source said. “A bomb went off on Tuesday (March 16) near the main bridge in al-Mussayab district, north of Hilla, setting a Hummer ablaze,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A Christian shopkeeper was gunned down on Wednesday in the main northern Iraqi city of Mosul. "Unknown armed men driving an unmarked car killed Sabah Gurgis while he was on his way to work this morning," police Major Khalid Mahmud said.

#2: One soldier was killed on Tuesday by a gun with a silencer at a checkpoint in western Mosul, according to a security source. “A gunman shot the solider using a gun with a silencer at an army checkpoint in al-Islah al-Zeraai neighborhood in western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: THREE Australian soldiers were almost killed when their armoured vehicle was blasted by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Two other Diggers also were wounded in the devastating blast near the main Australian base at Tarin Kowt.The infantry soldiers from the 1st Mentoring Task Force were blown up during a routine patrol as summer approaches and the "killing season" begins in the war against the Taliban. The three critically wounded soldiers were treated by combat medics and flown by helicopter to a nearby Australian-US medical centre on Tuesday night. But the coalition hospital was unable to treat the more serious injuries, so they were evacuated to Kandahar airfield, which is equipped and staffed to deal with critical wounds such as amputations and brain trauma.

#2-3: Suspected U.S. drones fired missiles at vehicles and hit a militant hide-out in a tribal region of northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least nine insurgents, two officials said.

#2: In the first attack, the drones fired four missiles at a vehicle and flattened a nearby house near Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, killing six militants, an army and an intelligence official said.

#3: About 50 minutes later, drones fired three more missiles at a vehicle in Madakhel town, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Miran Shah, killing three insurgents, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Other militants were also wounded in the two strikes, they said.

#4: In Pakistan's southwest city of Quetta, an explosion destroyed a house, police official Mohammad Nawaz said. Police recovered a man's body as well as some literature about the banned Sunni extremist outfit, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Nawaz said authorities were trying to figure out if the victim was involved in bomb-making.

#5: Meanwhile, men armed with rockets and petrol bombs ambushed a security checkpoint at Speen Qabar, near the Khyber tribal district, killing five police officers.

#6: The same group is said to have fixed a bomb under a tanker carrying fuel for Nato forces in Afghanistan, causing the vehicle to explode on Wednesday morning. There were no reports of casualties.

#7: Would-be suicide attackers targeted the offices of a charity in a southern Afghanistan city Wednesday morning but were killed by security guards before they could detonate their explosives-laden vests, an official said. One foreign employee was wounded in the attack on the office of International Relief and Development in the town of Lashkar Gah, said Dawood Ahmadi, spokesman for the government in Helmand province.Two gunmen wearing suicide vests burst into the compound that houses the IRD office. The first was shot by security guards and the second returned fire and was killed in the ensuing gunbattle, Ahmadi said. The charity offices are next to a government education department and officials initially thought that office was also under attack.Lashkar Gah is the closest major town to Marjah, where thousands of NATO troops have been fighting to oust the Taliban from their largest stronghold and operational hub in Helmand province.

#8: Two children of a family sustained injuries when mortar shells fired by Afghan security personnel hit a house in Zakhakhel area in Khyber Agency on Tuesday, official sources said. The sources said that two mortar shells fired by Afghan security personnel from a border post hit a house in Khanak Killay in Zakhakhel area in Landikotal subdivision, injuring two kids. The names of the injured minors could not be ascertained. The mortar shells were fired by the Afghan security forces when Taliban, according to tribal sources, attack a checkpost of the Afghan National Army in Deh Bala district in Nangarhar province, near Pak-Afghan border. Both sides use light and heavy weapons against each other for several hours.


DoD: Pfc. Erin L. McLyman

DoD: Sgt. 1st Class Glen J. Whetten

War News for Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak Hospital, UK, on Monday, March 15th. The soldier was wounded in an IED attack in the Musa Qal'ah district, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Sunday, February 21st.


U.S. Is Reining In Special Forces in Afghanistan:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A car rigged with explosives has went off near al-Mustansriya University in the capital Baghdad, eyewitnesses said on Tuesday. There has been no word on casualties yet.

Three Iraqi policemen were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near al-Mustansriya University in the capital Baghdad, the Iraqi police said on Tuesday. “This morning, three cops were wounded when an explosive device hit their patrol on Falasteen St. near the back entrance of the university, eastern Baghdad,” a police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two civilians have been injured in an explosive charge blast in downtown Baghdad, a local police source said on Tuesday. “This morning, two civilians were wounded when a roadside explosive device exploded near the Shiite mosque of Abdulrasoul in al-Karada neighborhood, downtown Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Shurqat:
#1: Police forces have found a body belonging to a policeman who was kidnapped a few years ago in al-Shurqat district, a local security source said on Tuesday. “A citizen told al-Shurqat police that he had found an unknown body in a farmland in Uweijila village, the left coast of al-Shurqat district,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The body was found to belong to a policeman who was kidnapped by an unarmed group in late 2005, the source indicated.


Kirkuk:
#1: Sahwa commander of al-Zab area survived an assassination attempt southwest of Kirkuk city, a local police source said on Tuesday. “A roadside bomb hit the convoy of Salman Ahmed Dikheel this noon in central al-Zab, 85 km southwest of Kirkuk,” Police Brigadier Sarhad Qadir told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.He said the blast left one of the convoy’s vehicles damaged, without causing any casualties.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Two unknown gunmen have detonated the house of a policeman in Falluja City, but no casualties were reported, a local police source said on Tuesday. “This morning, unknown gunmen blew up a house belonging to a policeman in al-Karma district, eastern Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A suspected US drone strike killed at least 11 militants Tuesday in Pakistan’s tribal region near the Afghan border, an intelligence official said.Several more people were injured in the aerial strike in the Datta Khel area of the North Waziristan tribal district, a known hub of Islamic militancy. An intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity said four missiles were fired from a drone at two insurgent camps in the mountains.

#2: An Australian soldier in Afghanistan was wounded by insurgents almost a month ago, defence has revealed. In line with the new policy of disclosing all incidents in which Australian troops are wounded, defence said the soldier received a soft-tissue injury. The incident occurred on February 21. The soldier, from the First Mentoring Task Force (MTF-1), was hurt while taking cover after his patrol came under insurgent small arms fire in Mirabad, north of Tarin Kowt in southern Afghanistan.

#3: According to police, unidentified men hurled a grenade on a house in Kharotabad in outskirts of the provincial Quetta. The explosion killed Mussa Khan, owner of the house, and injured his son, Wali Muhammad (18). The attackers escaped from the site after committing the crime.

#4: According to official sources, four persons, including a policeman, sustained injuries when unknown men lobbed a grenade on a police vehicle at the Post Office Road.

#5: Similarly, a hand grenade was also hurled at a FC at Seerat Chowk, around 30 minutes after the first attack, injuring three FC personnel.

#6: In another incident, the driver of a tanker carrying fuel for NATO forces inAfghanistan was injured at Dadhar area when unknown armed assailants sprayed a volley of bullets on the tanker with sophisticated weapons. Resultantly, the driver, Bakhtiar Khan, sustained serious wounds and rushed to a hospital.

#7: Six people were killed as a roadside bomb struck a civilian car in Taliban birthplace Kandahar in south Afghanistan on Monday, a press release of provincial administration said. "The incident occurred in Shah Walikot district at noontime as a result six civilians were killed," the press release added.

#8: Militants attacked German troops in Chardara district of Kunduz province in north Afghanistan, an official said Tuesday. "The attack occurred in Qasab village on Monday evening when the German and Afghan forces were attempting to establish checkpoints in the area," an official with the press department of Germany's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), Morten told Xinhua. Giving only one name, the official also admitted that two military vehicles were slightly damaged in the fighting lasting for hours. There were no casualties on the troops, adding the militants after suffering casualties fled the area.


DoD: Cpl. Jonathan D. Porto

War News for Monday, March 15, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in a vehicle accident in an undisclosed area of southern Afghanistan on Sunday, March 14th.


Contractors Tied to Effort to Track and Kill Militants:

Declining morale of US troops in Afghanistan:

U.S. struggles to track arms in Afghanistan:

New US troops to join Poles in Afghanistan:


Reported security incidents

Mosul:
#1: A policeman was killed by gunmen in an attack west of Mosul city on Sunday, according to a security source in Ninewa. “Gunmen opened fire on the policeman, who was on a leave of absence from duty and inside his vehicle, in the suburb of Tal Abta, killing him instantly and escaping to an unknown place,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A policeman was wounded in a hand-grenade attack that targeted a police patrol in central Mosul city on Sunday, according to a local police source in Ninewa province. “A hand-grenade blast targeted a police patrol in the area of al-Maydan, central Mosul, leaving one policeman wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: An Iraqi soldier was wounded in a thermal bomb blast in western Mosul on Sunday, a local security source said. “The bomb blast targeted an Iraqi army patrol in the area of Wadi Akkab, western Mosul, leaving one patrolman wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: An improvised explosive device went off, killing one civilian, in the centre of the city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#5: Armed men killed a prison guard in front of his home in the western part of Mosul, according to the police.

#6: Gunmen killed an off-duty policeman as he was driving his car in a town west of Mosul, police said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: A suicide car bomber killed four people and wounded 29 others when his vehicle exploded in a busy street during the morning rush hour in western Iraq. The blast took place shortly before 9 a.m. in a central street in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad. The blast went off during the morning rush hour as the street filled with pedestrians, stalls selling tea and day laborers gathering for work, a Fallujah police officer said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

A car bomb in Iraq's western Anbar province killed seven civilians and wounded 13 on Monday, police said. The bomb exploded in a car parked near an army patrol in the city of Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: An early morning rocket attack on the largest U.S. military hub in Afghanistan killed one person Monday, NATO said. NATO confirmed that the sprawling Bagram Air Field, north of the Afghan capital of Kabul, came under attack on Monday, but a spokesman disclosed no details other than the death. Abdullah Adil, the police chief in the Bagram district of Parwan province, says one rocket was fired onto the base's grounds at about 4 a.m. A Taliban spokesman told The Associated Press that two rockets were fired on the base.

#2: On Monday in eastern Afghanistan, police said Afghan security forces killed three suicide bombers in Paktika province before they could launch an attack on security posts in Barmal district.

#3: Separately in Ghazni province, Afghan police say three civilians were killed and three others were wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside mine while they were moving household goods.

#4: Also Monday, the U.S. military confirmed that an unmanned Predator drone aircraft crashed on takeoff in southern Afghanistan. The crash late Sunday night was not caused by enemy fire and the site was quickly secured, an Air Force release said.

#5: Twelve suspected militants were killed in military airstrikes in Pakistan's tribal region, two Pakistani military officials told CNN. Pakistani jet fighters launched the airstrikes around 2 p.m. (5 a.m. ET) Sunday against militant hideouts in Kalaya, a village in Orakzai, one of seven districts in Pakistan's tribal region along the Afghan border, the officials said.

At least 13 militants were killed and a number of their hideouts and camps destroyed in air and artillery attacks in Orakzai Agency on Sunday. Intermittent shelling by helicopters and artillery also destroyed a large food storage facility. A spokesman for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan denied the official claims about casualty and said that three militants had been injured and a house damaged in the attacks. Military planes pounded suspected training camps and hideouts in Merobak area where the houses of Haji Nasrullah, father-in-law of militant ‘commander’ Aslam Farooqui, and Akhtar Jan, were razed. A girls’ school where Taliban had set up a camp was also destroyed.

#6: A roadside bomb killed a Pakistani construction worker and wounded six of his compatriots on Sunday when the device hit their vehicle here, a provincial police officer said.

#7: Twelve civilians, including women and children, were killed in two separate operations by foreign troops in Kandahar and Kunar provinces, the presidential palace said in a statement. The statement did not give any further details and palace officials could not say when the incidents took place. A spokesman for the Nato-led force said he was not aware of the incidents and would look into the allegations.

News of the Day for Sunday, March 14, 2010

A woman wails outside a hospital where her son is treated after a bomb attack in Baghdad March 14, 2010. A pair of roadside bombs killed two people and wounded 19, including four policemen, late on Saturday in the Shula district of northwestern Baghdad, police said. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen

Reported Security Incidents

Baghdad

According to Aswat al-Iraq, On Saturday evening, a sticky bomb explodes in al-Shula; after police arrive, a second explosion injures 2 police and 4 civilians. According to Reuters, the attack consisted of a pair of roadside bombs targeting a police patrol, and the toll is 2 dead and 19 injured, including 4 police.

Kirkuk

Sticky bomb injures 2 police officers

Police officer injured as he tries to defuse a bomb.

Mosul

Gunmen seriously injure an Imam.

Other News of the Day

Remember the hyper-competent Cheney administration? Since adults are back in charge in DC, they have decided to actually, you know, investigate the conduct of the occupation of Iraq. What a concept. James Glanz reports:

NEW YORK — Investigators looking into corruption involving reconstruction in Iraq say they have opened more than 50 new cases in the past six months by scrutinizing large cash transactions made by some of the Americans involved in the nearly $150 billion rebuilding program.

Some of the cases involve people who are suspected of having mailed tens of thousands of dollars to themselves from Iraq, or of having stuffed the money into duffel bags and suitcases when leaving the country, the federal investigators said. In other cases, millions of dollars were allegedly moved through wire transfers. Suspects then used cash to buy BMWs, Humvees, and expensive jewelry or to pay off enormous casino debts. . . .

There have already been dozens of indictments and convictions for corruption since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But the new cases seem to confirm what investigators have long speculated: that the chaos, weak oversight, and wide use of cash payments in the reconstruction program in Iraq allowed many more Americans who took bribes or stole money to get off scot-free.

Early returns have Maliki's State of Law Alliance leading in Baghdad, suggesting they will ultimately gain the most seats in Parliament. However, formation of a government will require a coalition, and will be the result of a lengthy process of deal making.

Meghan O'Sullivan, who was Deputy National Security Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan in the Cheney administration, notes some of the difficulties. This is a rather rambling and unfocused essay, so I can't give you a crisp excerpt. But essentially the transitional arrangements which guaranteed sectarian/ethnic representation have expired, and the political parties have also fractured to some extent. The rules are somewhat ambiguous as well. So the process of forming a government this time around has no precedent and is highly unpredictable.

Alan Block reviews the book "Terrorizing Ourselves". Excerpt:

Obviously, the U.S. has not figured out how to cope effectively with today's brand of terrorism. The main reason, as this book – composed of contributions from a wide array of experts in counterterrorism – argues in great detail, is that government policies have imposed greater costs on our society than the terrorist attacks themselves. "Overreaction does the work of terrorism. Ignorance of this cardinal fact is why U.S. counterterrorism policy is failing."

snip

An argument can be made – is made tentatively in this book – that an inordinate focus on terrorism in the wake of 9/11 contributed to the financial crisis that crippled us beginning in 2008, but so far our economy at least has proven more resilient might have been expected.

The same cannot be said for our institutions of justice and our respect for individual rights. The Patriot Act was passed in a flurry of panic, and the privacy of every American was compromised, with little or no impact on terrorist activities. It was recently renewed with little notice by a Congress peopled with politicians who had previously criticized it but found it acceptable now that a man with a D after his name occupies the Oval Office. Americans have become accustomed to removing their shoes and not putting shampoo in their carry-on bags and waiting in long lines to travel. Many Americans justify torture and indefinite detention without trial of people simply accused of cooperation with terrorists.

Several chapters dissect the threat posed by bioterrorism and find it minuscule, yet the government has spent $64 billion on it since 9/11, which has probably made us less rather than more safe. . .

Afghanistan Update

Taliban claim responsibility for yesterday's attacks in Kandahar, which are now said to have killed 33 and injured at least 50 people. Ahmad Wali Karzai, half brother of the president and head of the provincial council, says the main objective was to free prisoners, but the attacks failed in this regard.

CNN provides considerable detail on the coordinated series of attacks, and puts the death toll at 35.

Jeffrey Fleishman of the LA Times reports that military successes are of little value so long as Afghans have no economic opportunity. Excerpt:

As war with the Taliban rattles in the provinces, here in the capital, unemployment, poverty and corruption are regarded as more potent enemies. The national government extols the recent success of U.S. and Afghan troops pushing back militants in Marjah, but jobless computer technicians and laborers who can't buy bread have folded away all of the pretty promises they have heard.

"If the U.S. and other countries want a stable Afghanistan, they don't need war, they need to build industries," said Ahmad Morid Rahimi, a coordinator with a relief and job placement agency. "People join the Taliban. Why? To feed their families. Instead of sending 15,000 soldiers to fight in Marjah, why didn't the U.S. spend those millions of dollars creating jobs?"

Roadside bomb in Kandahar kills a Pakistani construction worker, injures 6 others. And oh yeah -- with Afghans out of work, why are Pakistanis employed on construction jobs? -- C

Site News: I am finally making progress on regaining control of the commenting and kicking out the trolls. With luck, we'll have it done by the end of the day. It should go without saying that people who would resort to such dishonest and abusive tactics are not interested in rational discussion, and in fact know they are incapable of it. They are idiots who do not understand the basic values of democracy and free speech. Their actions speak for themselves.

War News for Saturday, March 13, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldiers in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, March 12th.


NATO accused of ‘covering up’ night raid that killed two pregnant women:

India to send 40 more commandos to Afghanistan:

Pakistan Army Digs In on Turf of the Taliban:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Five civilians were wounded in an improvised explosive device blast in southern Baghdad on Saturday, a local police source said. “An IED went off in al-Mechanic neighborhood, al-Dora district, southern Baghdad, leaving five civilians wounded and were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded 10 others in the Doura district of southern Baghdad, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi police patrol wounded two policemen in Ghazaliya District of western Baghdad, police said.


Samarra:
#1: Police found the decomposed remains of two people in western Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Three gunmen were killed in a blast resulting from a car bomb they were planning to use for an attack west of Mosul on Saturday, according to a local police source. “The car bomb went off in Be’r Akla village, Rubaia’a suburb, in the district of Talafar, leaving the three gunmen who were planning an attack with the explosive vehicle dead,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A civilian man was killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen in western Mosul city on Saturday, a local police source in Ninewa said. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a civilian man in front of his house in the area of al-Harmat, western Mosul, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


#3: Gunman threw a hand grenade at Iraqi police patrol and wounded one civilian in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.


Tal Afar:
#1: Gunmen killed an off duty policeman near his house in Tal Afar, about 420 km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A remote-controlled bomb killed six Afghan civilians Saturday as they traveled in a central province, an official said. Insurgents detonated the explosives planted in a road as the civilians' vehicle passed by in Tirin Kot, capital of central Uruzgan province, according to Zemarai Bashary, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior. One other civilian was wounded in the early morning blast, he said.

#2: A suicide bomber driving a motorized rickshaw blew himself up at a security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, officials said, killing at least 13 people, injuring 52 and underscoring the nation’s relentless security threat. Maj. Gen. Ashfaq Nadeem, a top military official for the region, said Saturday’s attack killed 13 people, including two soldiers and two policemen. The attacker, driving a three-wheeled motorized rickshaw, detonated explosives at a roadblock manned by soldiers and police Saturday morning in Saidu Sharif, the administrative capital of Swat, said police official Qazi Farooq.

#3: Eleven Taliban militants were killed as NATO-led aircraft pounded their hideouts in Zabul province south of Afghanistan, spokesman for provincial administration Mohammad Jan Rasoul said Saturday. "International troops dropped bombs on Taliban bastion in Shamonzai district Friday night killing 11 rebels," Rasoul told Xinhua.

#4: An anti-government militant was killed and another sustained injuries as a mine went off prematurely in Afghanistan's northwest Badghis province on Saturday, a press release of Interior Ministry said. "Two terrorists were busy in planting a mine on a road in Muqir district of Badghis province this morning but the device exploded pre-maturely killing one and wounding another," the press release added.

#5: Gun battle between security forces and Taliban fighters left four insurgents dead in Afghanistan's northern Faryab province, a private television channel broadcast Saturday. "Four anti-government militants were killed in Pashtunkot district of Faryab province last night," Tolo television reported in its news bulletin.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Garrett W. Gamble

War News for Friday, March 12, 2010

Afghan Tribal Rivalries Bedevil a U.S. Plan:

Russia criticizes US, NATO over Afghan drugs:


Reported security incidents

Nassiriya:
#1: An improvised explosive device went off on Friday targeting a U.S. convoy in northern Nassiriya City, without causing casualties, according to an official spokesman for the U.S. army in southern Iraq. “The bomb went off on the road between Nassiriya and al-Shtara cities, northern Nassiriya, targeting a joint patrol of U.S. and police forces while escorting a foreign reconstruction team,” Maj. Miles told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion caused no casualties,” he added.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Security forces found on Friday morning a car-bomb factory in western Anbar, a media official said. “Acting on intelligence information, police forces raided a house in the border region of al-Qaem in western Anbar,” Major Rahim Zubn told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the force found materials used to booby trap cars and to make explosive belts.

#2: One child was killed and his younger brother was wounded in an explosion in east of Falluja city, a police source said on Friday. “An armed group blew up a house of a policeman after planting explosives inside it in Zoubaa region in east of Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion killed a child and injured his brother, who was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: “A police force waged on Friday a security operation in central al-Karma district, eastern Falluja, where they defused three bombs.” The source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A pair of suicide bombers targeting army vehicles detonated explosives within seconds of each other Friday, killing at least 39 people in this eastern city and wounding nearly 100, police said. The bombers, who were on foot, struck RA Bazaar, a residential and commercial neighborhood where several security agencies have facilities. Senior police official Tariq Saleem Dogar said 39 people were killed, and another 95 were hurt.

#2: Insurgents attacked a police post in eastern Afghanistan with guns and then detonated a roadside bomb as reinforcements sped to the scene, killing three members of an elite strike force, police said Friday. Among the dead was the commander of the new police rapid-reaction force created in Paktia province to respond to Taliban threats, provincial police Chief Azizudin Wardak said. Gunmen launched the attack on a post outside Gardez, the provincial capital, on Thursday night. When the rapid-response force rushed to aid the fight, the militants detonated a roadside bomb as their vehicle passed. Two other members of the force were wounded, Wardak said. Another police officer was wounded in the gunbattle at the police post, but the small group of insurgents retreated after the bomb was detonated, he said.

#3: A Swedish woman from Örebro in eastern Sweden was shot and killed in Kabul in January. The woman was visiting relatives in the Afghan capital, according to a report in Nerikes Allehanda. The woman died when men unknown to her opened fire as she sat in a car with a relative. Swedish authorities have been informed, but have not been told any more details of the events surrounding the killing.


DoD: Sgt. Jonathan J. Richardson

DoD: Pfc. Jason M. Kropat