War News for Saturday, November 20, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from an IED blast in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Friday, November 19th.


NATO to announce pullout from Afghanistan by end of 2011

Pakistan Denies US Bid To Widen Drone-Strike Zones

U.S. wants to widen area in Pakistan where it can operate drones


Reported security incidents

Amarra:
#1: Security forces in al-Amara found the body of a civilian man who was shot dead north of the city, according to a Missan security source on Saturday. “A force from the Iraqi army’s 10th Division discovered the body of a civilian man, who was shot dead and dumped in al-Magharba area, north of Amara,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen shot dead a guard from the oil pipelines protection department south of Mosul city on Friday, according to a police source in Ninewa. “The gunmen opened fire on the guard at al-Irej village of Hammam al-Aleel area, (20 km) south of Mosul, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Suicide bombers on bicycles killed four people and wounded 31 others in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday. Two bombers struck in Laghman province, provincial Governor Mohammad Iqbal Azizi told Reuters, with the first bomber detonating his explosives at a police checkpoint in the capital Mehtar Lam, and the second struck several hundred metres away. "We are not sure what the target of the second bomber was but we think he may have detonated his explosives prematurely," Azizi said. Earlier reports said the attacks had taken place in neighbouring Alisheng district. All of the dead were civilians, Azizi said, and most of the victims had been riding in two motorised rickshaws, a common form of transport in rural areas that can carry many passengers.

#2: Gunmen in northwestern Pakistan Saturday attacked and set on fire NATO supply trucks destined for Afghanistan, police and witnesses said. Around 10 tankers were engulfed in flames as suspected armed militants opened fire on a workshop for NATO vehicles in the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province.

#3: Two soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) sustained injuries as an explosive device went off in northern Kunduz province early Saturday, a spokesman with the alliance said. "Two soldiers were injured in an explosion in Gortipa area outside provincial capital Kunduz city at 03:30 a.m. local time when they were patrolling," Lieutenant Colonel Burchardi told Xinhua.