Afghans say 41 child suicide bombers rescued

Afghan, ISAF forces reopen school in Zabul (Photo credit: isafmedia)

KABUL: The Afghan government said Monday that police had rescued 41 children from becoming suicide bombers as they were about to be smuggled across the mountains into Pakistan.

Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told a news conference that the children aged six to 11 had been released on February 15 from the clutches of four insurgents in eastern Kunar province.

He told AFP their families “were fooled by terrorists”, who promised to send them to seminaries in Pakistan where they would be “brainwashed” and “prepared for suicide bombings against Afghan and international troops in Afghanistan”.

Police arrested the four suspects and the children were returned to their families, the spokesman said.

On February 12, Afghan authorities announced the arrest of two 10-year-old would-be suicide bombers allegedly planning to attack Afghan and international forces in the southern province of Kandahar, the Taliban’s birthplace.

They had been reportedly released last August, along with 18 other children, after receiving a pardon from Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Related articles

• Afghans say 41 child suicide bombers rescued (alternet.org)
• 41 Child Homicide Bombers Rescued (atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com)

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An Albanian army officer shot dead, one injured in Afghanistan, 11 Afghan police arrested

Suspected Afghan police opened fire on Albanian and other foreign troops in the war-wracked country’s south Monday, killing anAlbanian soldier and prompting the arrest of 11 Afghan policemen, authorities said.

The death were the first for Albanian troop in Afghanistan. Another international soldier was wounded.

Monday’s shooting occurred in the village of Robat, in the southern district of Spin Boldak near the Pakistani border, Kandahar police chief Abdul Raziq said. The troops were accompanying a USAID team for a meeting about opening two schools and a health cente, Albania’s defense ministry said.

The soldiers “found themselves attacked by a group of persons wearing uniforms of the Afghan police,” Brig. Gen. Viktor Berdo, head of Albanian land forces, told reporters in Tirana.
The Albanian ministry said the remaining soldiers “arrested 11 Afghan policemen who opened fire.”

In Monday’s incident, the attackers opened fire with five assault rifles and one light automatic machine gun, the Albanian Defense Ministry said.

An Albanian captain died later of his wounds in a hospital in the southern city of Kandahar. Albanian officials initially said a corporal also was killed, but later clarified that the soldier was in a coma, adding "there is still hope of improvement."

Another international soldier was wounded in the incident, the ministry said. There was no immediate information on that soldier's nationality.

Albanian President Bamir Topi denounced the attack as a “grave terrorist act” and called for the punishment of those responsible.

Albania has 265 troops in Afghanistan. The two killed were part of a contingent that left Albania in mid-January for six-month tour of duty.

complied from several sources

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ISAF Press Release:

KABUL, Afghanistan – An individual wearing the uniform of the Afghan Uniformed Police turned his weapon against International Security Assistance Force service members in southern Afghanistan today, killing one service member.

It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities.

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Related articles

• 2 Albanian army officers shot dead in Afghanistan (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Suspected Afghan police shoot dead 2 Albanian soldiers; 11 police arrested (washingtonpost.com)  

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Djibouti plane crash - names released

DOD Identifies Air Force Casualties

             The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of four airmen who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.  They died February 18 when their U-28 aircraft was involved in an accident near Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa.  The cause of the accident is under investigation.
   
Killed were:
   
Capt. Ryan P. Hall, 30, of Colorado Springs, Colo.  He was assigned to the 319th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
   
 Capt. Nicholas S. Whitlock, 29, of Newnan, Ga.  He was assigned to the 34th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
    
1st Lt. Justin J. Wilkens, 26, of Bend, Ore.  He was assigned to the 34th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
    
Senior Airman Julian S. Scholten, 26, of Upper Marlboro, Md.  He was assigned to the 25th Intelligence Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
   
 For more information media may contact the Air Force 1st Special Operations Wing public affairs office at 850-884-8100.


R.I.P.
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Releated article:


Plane crash kills 4 US military personnel in Djibouti (update) 

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Plane crash kills 4 US military personnel in Djibouti (update)

Image via Wikipedia

Four U.S. military personnel died when their military aircraft crashed in Djibouti, according to a story by Voice of America.

The U.S. Africa Command said the aircraft went down late Saturday during a routine flight, according to VOA. The aircraft was about six miles from Djibouti International Airport.

AFRICOM did not describe the type of aircraft nor the circumstances of the crash, the VOA report said.

A safety board investigation has been launched to determine the cause.

The only U.S. military base in Africa is located in Djibouti, according to the VOA report. The base is home to the U.S. Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.

Read the Voice of America article.

DOD Identifies Air Force Casualties

             The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of four airmen who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.  They died February 18 when their U-28 aircraft was involved in an accident near Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa.  The cause of the accident is under investigation.
            Killed were:
             Capt. Ryan P. Hall, 30, of Colorado Springs, Colo.  He was assigned to the 319th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
             Capt. Nicholas S. Whitlock, 29, of Newnan, Ga.  He was assigned to the 34th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
             1st Lt. Justin J. Wilkens, 26, of Bend, Ore.  He was assigned to the 34th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
             Senior Airman Julian S. Scholten, 26, of Upper Marlboro, Md.  He was assigned to the 25th Intelligence Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla.
             For more information media may contact the Air Force 1st Special Operations Wing public affairs office at 850-884-8100.
 

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4 killed, 2 injured in Iraq's Anbar province

Image via Wikipedia

RAMADI, Iraq, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Four people were killed and two others wounded in separate gunfire and bomb attack in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial police source said on Monday.

Gunmen using assault rifles stormed the house of Sheikh Ketab al-Issawi, chieftain of a local tribe in southern city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, and dragged him out of his house before they shot him dead, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The attackers also wounded Issawi's son during their breaking into the house, the source said.

In a separate incident, a sticky bomb attached to a car carrying three police officers detonated late on Sunday night in central of the provincial capital city of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, killing two officers and wounding the third, the source said.

Also in the province, the body of Osama Abdul-Razzaq al-Kubaisy, a judge of the local criminal court in the city of al-Qaim, was found inside his house in the western outskirts of the city, some 230 km west of Ramadi, the source added.

Kubaisy's body was badly charred after being repeatedly stabbed with sharp object, he said, adding that the victim's family was not at the house when the attack occurred late on Sunday.

Insurgent attacks continue in the once volatile Sunni Arab area west of Baghdad that stretches through the province to Iraq's western borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

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Three Italian soldiers die in Afghanistan car accident (updated)

Image via Wikipedia

UPDATE:

Three Italian soldiers were killed on 20th February 2012 when the Lynx VTLM vehicle they were in overturned while crossing a river, trapping three of the crew inside.

The incident happened about 20km south-west of Shindand during a recovery and rescue operation of another unit that was stranded by bad weather.

The three soldiers, all serving with 66 Military Aircraft Regiment were named as:

Chief Corporal Francesco Currò, 1st Corporal Luca Valente and 1st Corporal Francesco Paolo Messineo.

L-R: Francesco Messineo, Francesco Curro, Luca Valente

A fourth soldier was injured in the accident and is currently in a stable condition in hospital.

KABUL, Afghanistan  — Three Italian soldiers died Monday in a car accident in western Afghanistan, officials said.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano issued a condolence message expressing his "deep emotion" over the news of the deaths in Herat province.

NATO forces had previously said three soldiers died in "an operation" but Napolitano's statement confirmed that they were killed in an accident.

The Italian soldiers were in a convoy going to survey a canal project in Herat's Shindand district when their vehicle crashed into a canal, said provincial police spokesman Rauf Ahmadi.

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the original ISAF release:

2012-02-C-020
For Immediate Release

KABUL, Afghanistan (Feb. 20) – Three International Security Assistance Force service members died during an operation in western Afghanistan today.

It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities
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UPDATE1:

By BNO News

KABUL/ROME (BNO NEWS) -- Three Italian service members were killed on Monday when their armored vehicle overturned while crossing a stream in western Afghanistan, the Italian Ministry of Defense said. It raises the number of Italian troops killed in Afghanistan so far to 45.

Officials at the Ministry of Defense in the Italian capital of Rome said the accident happened about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) southwest of Shindand, a town in the Shindand district of Herat province, when an armored vehicle overturned, trapping the soldiers inside. Three soldiers were killed while a fourth was taken to a hospital with unknown injuries.

Italian president Giorgio Napolitano offered his condolences in a brief statement released by his office. "[Napolitano] learned with deep emotion the news of the accident which killed three Italian soldiers engaged in the international mission for peace and stability in Afghanistan, expressing his feelings for joint participation in the pain of the families of the fallen and voicing the deep condolences of the country," it said.

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1 Policeman Killed, Others Wounded in Kandahar Car bomb

One Afghan policeman was killed and two others were wounded in a car bomb near the police headquarters in Kandahar on Monday.

Two other policemen and three civilians were wounded in the attack.

The incident took place at 10 am local time when a car bomb exploded near the fourth district police station, provincial spokesman Zalmai Ayoubi told TOLOnews.

The wounded were taken to a nearby hospital in the city, Mr Ayoubi said.

Afghan security forces have cordoned off the area and started an investigation into events, he added.

No group including the Taliban has claimed responsibly for the blast.


from TOLONEWS 

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The attacker drove a Toyota Corolla up to the checkpoint outside of the police station in Kandahar and detonated his explosives, said the city's police chief, Abdul Raziq. 

Gunfire could be heard immediately following the blast, but Raziq said the shots came from the police.
A civilian compound nearby was also destroyed, according to a statement from the Kandahar government's media office.

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R.I.P. - Petty Officer First Class Paris S. Pough

DOD Identifies Navy Casualty

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
            Petty Officer First Class Paris S. Pough, 40, of Columbus, Ga. died Feb. 17, during a port visit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Pough, a hull technician, was assigned to the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), home-ported in San Diego, Calif.

            For further information related to this release, contact Cmdr. Amy Derrick-Frost at 011-973-1785-4561.

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USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70)

We offer our thoughts, prayers and support to the family, friends and shipmates of Hull Technician 1st Class Paris Pough who died as a result of a non-combat related incident while on liberty during a port visit in Jebel Ali, UAE February 17th. Petty Officer Pough was a vital member of this crew. He was a leader of Sailors and a hard-working, trustworthy shipmate who was critical to the success of the Engineering Department. He was also a loving father and husband. This is a loss for the entire Navy family and he was a Sailor we'll never forget onboard Carl Vinson.

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