War News for Friday, July 16, 2010

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers in a roadside bombing in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, July 15th. News reports these to be American soldiers.


North Iraq hotel fire kills 29, half foreign

Four Americans among dozens killed in Iraq hotel fire

Canadian believed among 29 people killed in Iraq hotel fire

Turkish soldier killed in PKK mine blast

Some worry about abuse as U.S. hands over final detention center to Iraq


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Four civilians were wounded in a bomb explosion in central Baghdad, a police source said on Friday. “A roadside bomb went off on the road near al-Khelani square in central Baghdad on Friday morning (July 16), injuring four civilians, who were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A senior army officer was wounded by gunmen in northern Baghdad, a police source said on Friday. “Unknown gunmen opened fire late Thursday (July 15) on Brigadier Emad el-Din Mohammad near his house in northern Baghdad,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Two civilians were wounded on Friday in a bomb blast in southwestern Baghdad, a police source said. “An improvised explosive device went off this morning near a civilian vehicle in al-Jihad neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad, injuring two civilians inside the vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: A mortar round fell on Baghdad's fortified Green Zone where government offices and embassies are located, an Interior Ministry source said. No one was injured.


Mahmudiya:
#1: A bomb planted on a bicycle in a marketplace in Mahmudiya, just south of Baghdad, killed two people and wounded 10, an Interior Ministry source said.


Hilla:
#1: Gunmen shot dead a policeman and wounded another when they attacked their patrol in northern al-Hilla city on Thursday, according to a local security source. “Gunmen in an Opel vehicle opened fire on a Babel Police Department patrol that was on a mission on the speedway line, (60 km) northern Hilla, leaving one patrolman killed and another wounded and causing damage to their patrol vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Iskandariya:
#1: Two civilians were killed and ten others were wounded in an explosion inside a café in north of Hilla on Friday, a police source said. “The bomb exploded on Friday morning (July 16) inside a café in Aday region in al-Askandariya district, north of Hilla, killing two and injuring ten,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Abu Ghraib:
#1: Three civilians were killed and two more were wounded by a roadside bomb blast in western Baghdad, a police source said Friday. “The bomb exploded while a civilian car was passing carrying five persons near Hamid Shihab village in Abu Ghrieb region, western Baghdad, killing three and injuring two and damaging the car,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Tikrit:
#1: A gunman blew himself up inside his house in Kirkuk after police besieged it, a police source said on Thursday. “A police force besieged the house of a gunman in al-Hasriya village in Soliman Beik district, southern Kirkuk,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The gunman blew himself up before security forces stormed the house,” he added, without giving further details.


Haswa:
#1: A bomb in a cafe in the town of Haswa, 50 km (30 miles) south of Baghdad, killed six people and wounded eight, a source in the Interior Ministry said.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: One civilian was killed on Friday when gunmen opened fire on him using a gun with silencer in central Falluja, according to a security source. “The civilian was killed in al-Resalah neighborhood near the al-Jadied street in central Falluja,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “He belongs to the Albu Issa tribe, which is fighting al-Qaeda group,” he added.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Three Italian soldiers wounded in a shootout occurred about 3 hours ago in western Afghanistan. Also hit a helicopter. The firefight, as we know so far, occurred south of Bala Murghab, one of the most dangerous areas of western Afghanistan. The Italian troops were engaged in an activity in support of Afghan security forces, when there was a violent attack. The confirmation comes from sources in the Alpine Brigade Command Taurinense. Of the three wounded, one is serious and has injuries to his lung and shoulder. groin injury for a second military, whose conditions are defined serious, too , while the third was has minor wounds. In today's violent clash of Bala Murghab, a Continent's helicopter was also damaged. Antonio Caliandro, a spokesman for Regional Command West in Herat, said that "At present we don't have precise information on the conditions of the three soldiers", whose identity was not disclosed. The attack on Italians and Afghans soldiers by an unknown number of insurgents occurred around 11, local time.

#2: At least six people were killed and several more wounded when a bomb exploded in a busy market in Pakistan's Khyber region on Friday. The device was timed to go off as crowds flocked to the weekly used car market in Kuki Khel town. "At least six people were killed and another 16 wounded in the explosion," Khattak said. Kuki Khel, located in the Tirah valley near the Afghan border, lies on the Nato supply route to Afghanistan.

#3: Armed assailants torched four NATO supply trucks Bolan tehsil's Mach area here late on Thursday night. According to reports, unidentified gunmen first opened indiscriminate fire on the NATO supply containers carrying oil and other goods, and later set them ablaze.

#4: Two US rockets launched by a drone plane in a rebels’ camp in Waziristan tribal region northwest Pakistan killed 10 Islamists at least.

#5: AN Australian Chinook helicopter has been struck by insurgent ground fire which wounded two coalition soldiers. Defence said the CH-47 Chinook, one of two Australian helicopters operating in Afghanistan, was taking off from a coalition patrol base in the Arghandab Valley region of Kandahar. No Australians were hurt in the attack and the two coalition soldiers of undisclosed nationality received minor wounds.

#6: A suicide bomber attacked police in Herat province west of Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least one policeman and wounding two others, police said. "A terrorist riding an explosive-laden car blew it up next to the convoy of police in Gazara district at 8 a.m., leaving one police constable dead and two others dead," deputy to provincial police chief Dilawar Shah Dilawar told Xinhua. Close to the incident was NATO-led forces base but it caused no damage to the alliance, Dilawar further said. The suicide bomber was also killed in the blast, he said.

#7: Gunmen kidnapped five Health Ministry employees in Afghanistan’s volatile Kandahar province. Members of a medical team were abducted Wednesday afternoon while returning to Kandahar city, the provincial capital, after visiting a project in Maiwand district, provincial spokesman Zulmi Ayubi said Thursday.


MoD: Marine Matthew Harrison