War News for Monday, September 24, 2007

The NATO ISAF website has confirmed the death of an ISAF servicemember killed by small-arms fire in Afghanistan on Sunday, September 22nd. As usual, no further information was given at this time.


Security incidents:

Baghdad:
#1: Higher Education Minister Abd Dhiab Ajaili survived an assassination attempt as he returned to Baghdad from Tikrit, police said. Ajaili was unhurt but two of his bodyguards were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy and insurgents then opened fire.

#2: Gunmen killed Jawad al-Daami, a journalist for Baghdadiya television, on Sunday in al-Qadissiya district of southwestern Baghdad, an Iraqi journalists' association said.

#3: Police found 10 unidentified dead bodies in the following neighborhoods in Baghdad: ( 6) were found in west Baghdad(Karkh bank) ; 2 in Shoala , 2 in Mahmoudiyah , 2 in Amil and 1 in Bayaa. While( 3 ) were found in east Baghdad ( Risafa bank) ; 2 in Sadr city and 1 in Ur.

#4: Two mortar rounds fell in the Green Zone at 08:00 this morning, said Iraqi Police. No casualties were reported.

#5: 2 children were killed and their parents injured when a mortar round fell on their home in Talbiyah at around 09:00 am.

#6: Gunmen opened fire upon a coaster bus returning Rafidain Bank employees to their homes. 1 female was killed and another injured.


Diyala Prv:
Balad Ruz:
#1: US forces shot dead an Iraqi civilian in a security operation targeting al-Qaeda terrorist network militants in Balad Ruz in southern Diyala province, Iraqi security and medical sources said Monday. Thirteen al-Qaeda suspects were detained in the operation, while another civilian was killed by militants also in Balad Ruz, 180 kilometres south of Baghdad, the sources added.

Baquba:
#1: three unidentified dead bodies were found in Hadid village, south of Baquba city, the capital of Diyala province, sources said.

#2: a mass grave with the bodies of 20 murdered students was found in the Iraqi province of Diyala, an Iraqi security spokesman reported Monday. the bodies were of young men taken by extremists from a main street, and killed and buried in the area of al-Abara near Baquba.


Najaf:
#1: The General Secretary of the National Accordance Group, Najaf Branch, Adel Waheed Abood was targeted by gunmen and sustained two bullets this morning; one in the neck and another in the shoulder. The Heath Department in Najaf say his condition is critical. He was a nominee for the position of Governor in Najaf governorate.


Kut:
#1: Wasit province police chief Abdul-Hanin al-Imara escaped an assassination attempt when gunmen opened fire on his convoy on Sunday in the city of Kut, police said. Imara was unhurt but two of his guards were wounded.

#2: Gunmen killed one man and wounded another in Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.


Latifiya:
#1: A roadside bomb killed one soldier and wounded three others in Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.


Hilla:
#1: Iraqi army forces killed another four militants were killed when they were staging a fake checkpoint in Jabal area, and set free two hostages, one of whom was a policeman, the source noted.


Iskandariya:
#1: US force killed four militants as they were planting explosive charges in Iskandariya city, the source added.


Baiji:
#1: A pipeline carrying crude oil from Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, to the Doura refinery in the capital was ruptured in a bomb attack, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: an Iraqi security guard was killed and three others were wounded when a car bomb exploded near the convoy of a local security official near the northern city of Kirkuk, police Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir said.

#2: A car bomb targeting a local mayor's convoy killed one of his bodyguards and wounded seven, including three civilians in Kirkuk, police said.

#3: Kirkuk province police chief Jamal Tahir escaped unhurt from a roadside bomb attack on his convoy in the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. One of his guards was wounded.

#4: A bomb in a parked car wounded six people near a police brigadier-general's house in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#5: Kirkuk Police found the body of policeman Shihab Ahmed Khalaf, 36, with several bullet wounds to his head, yesterday evening.

#6: 2 civilians injured in a car bomb explosion near the new bridge, Wahed Athar neighborhood downtown Kirkuk at 01: 00 this afternoon.


Mosul:
#1: A roadside bomb killed one person and wounded three west of Mosul, police said.


Tal Afar:
#1: At least six Iraqis, including two policemen and one army soldier, were killed and 17 others wounded in an attack in Talafar city on Monday, independent Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported, citing a police sauce. A truck, driven by a suicide bomber on Monday noon, targeted a checkpoint in the village of Abu Maria on the Mosul-Talafar highway,Talafar police chief Brig. Ibrahim al-Juburi told VOI.



Afghanistan:
#1: Two Spanish soldiers have been killed and two others badly injured in Afghanistan when their military convoy was hit by an explosion. An Iranian interpreter working with the Spanish troops may have also been killed as a result of the blast, the Afghan Defense Ministry added in a statement Monday. "There was an explosion when the convoy or armored vehicles passed. We can't say what kind of explosion," the spokesman said, adding it occurred near Shewan in the western province of Farah.
#2: TWELVE people were killed in north-eastern Afghanistan when three gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying police and government employees. The attack in the remote north-eastern Badakhshan province yesterday left seven policemen and five government employees dead, and one policeman wounded. They were travelling to Kabul, a Badakhshan police chief said. The police were being transferred to new posts, so were unarmed, he added.

#3: in the western Farah province, battles involving insurgents dressed as police killed one security guard and 12 militants.

Three Afghan guards employed by a US private security firm were killed in an ambush by Taleban insurgents in western Afghanistan and 10 were missing, officials said on Monday. The attack on the convoy in Farah province on Sunday night was followed by a clash between the militants and the guards, officials said “The Taleban attacked the convoy, killed three guards of the company and 10 of them have gone missing,” Farah police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang told reporters. A provincial official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters however that 13 guards had died in the attack. Police chief Sarjang said 21 Taleban fighters had been killed in the clash. The Taleban could not be immediately reached for comment. They have in the past rejected casualty figures reported by Afghan and foreign troops as propaganda.

#4: NATO freed two kidnapped Italian soldiers in western Afghanistan Monday in an operation which left both troops wounded and up to nine of their captors dead, officials said. The Italian troopers were rescued in Farah province two days after going missing in the neighbouring province of Herat, bordering Iran, with their Afghan interpreter and driver. An Italian-led contingent of troops from the International Security Assistance Force intercepted the hostages and their kidnappers early on Monday, an ISAF statement said. "In the ensuing firefight the two Italian hostages were wounded, one of them seriously," it said. One Afghan citizen was wounded while the fate of a second Afghan with the Italians was unknown. "All the kidnappers were killed," the statement said, adding that there were either eight or nine abductors.

#5: Three Australian soldiers were wounded and an explosive detection dog was killed in two separate roadside bomb attacks by Taliban extremists in southern Afghanistan last week. A Special Operations Task Group vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb during a patrol in Oruzgan Province, slightly wounding two soldiers, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) revealed on Monday.

#6: During a later routine clearance task, an explosive detection dog - a black Labrador named Razz - and his handler encountered a second roadside bomb, which exploded on discovery. Razz was killed and his handler suffered minor injuries.