War News for Thursday, January 26, 2011

The DoD is reporting the death of an ISAF Marine who died from a a non-combat related illness somewhere in the U.S. on Sunday, January 22nd.


Thousands of Nato trucks in Pakistan backlog

IED attacks in Afghanistan set record


Reported security incidents
#1: A suicide car bomber targeting a NATO-sponsored reconstruction team killed four Afghan civilians, including a child, and wounded 31 on Thursday in southern Afghanistan, officials said. Three civilian international members of the aid team — two men and one woman — were among the wounded, said Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor. He said their injuries were not life threatening and did not know their nationalities. The bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle Thursday morning as a convoy of a NATO Provincial Reconstruction Team passed by in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, Ahmadi said. The blast ripped through the convoy of armored vehicles, knocking at least one over and charring others. The explosion also shredded nearby storefronts and damaged at least 17 civilian cars nearby, a provincial statement said.

#2: Pakistani officials say gunmen have attacked a military checkpoint in southwestern Baluchistan Province, killing six soldiers. The officials said about a dozen gunmen attacked the post of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in the district of Dera Bugti, about 400 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital, Quetta, before dawn on January 26. After killing the soldiers, the gunmen are reported to have taken the soldiers' weapons and escaped.

#3: Twenty-two Pakistani forces were injured during an assault by a group of militants in the Jogi area of the northwestern Kurram tribal region, near the Afghanistan border, security officials said. The officials said security forces fought back and killed 20 militants in the incident. The death toll could not be independently verified and militants often dispute official accounts.

#4: Militants attacked a paramilitary checkpost in the Barandem area of the northwestern Bannu district, killing a soldier, intelligence officials said.

#5: According to local authorities in southern Afghanistan, at least four militants were killed following armed clashes with the Afghan National Police forces in southern Helmand province. The officials further added, at least two Afghan police service members were also killed during clashes with the armed militants, which lasted more than 8 hours. District Security Chief for Nad-e-Ali Omer Jan confirming the report said, the clashes started on Wednesday evening. Mr. Omer Jan further added, at least eight other militants were also injured during the clashes.


DoD: Capt. Joshua C. Pairsh

MoD: Signaller Ian Sartorius-Jones