R.I.P. - Spc. Dennis P. Weichel Jr.

DOD Identifies Army Casualty

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
           
 Spc. Dennis P. Weichel Jr., 29, of Providence, R.I., died March 22 in Laghman province, Afghanistan, from injuries suffered in a noncombat related incident.  He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 56th Troop Command, Rhode Island National Guard, East Greenwich, R.I.

            For more information the media may contact the Rhode Island National Guard at 401-275-4193 or 401-641-1730.

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The details of his passing have not been released as of this date.

Dennis was a member of the National Guard since 2001.

He was deployed to Iraq in 2005. Officials stated that Dennis' life was marked by bravery, selflessness, and commitment to others.

Dennis is survived by many loving friends and relatives including his parents, Linda and Dennis; and his young children, Nicholas, Hope and Madison.

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13 militants killed in suicide attack in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, March 23 (Xinhua) -- At least 13 militants were killed in a suicide blast carried out by a rival militant group on Friday afternoon in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of Khyber Agency bordering Afghanistan.

Local Urdu TV channels Dunya and ARY reported that 13 people were killed when a suicide bomber hit a center of Lashkar-e-Islam, a banned militant group, in Akkakhel.

Tehreek-e-Taliban (Pakistan Taliban) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

On March 2, a Pakistan Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency, killing 23 people and wounding over 20 others. Most of the casualties were believed to be members of Lashkar-e-Islam.

Lashkar-e-Islam, founded in 2004, has some 18,000 followers who are mainly active in Khyber Agency and is notorious for kidnapping for ransom.


UPDATE:
on LongWarJournal by Bill Roggio:
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/03/taliban_suicide_bomb_35.php

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Mar.23., 2012. - ISAF Joint Command Morning Operational Update

KABUL, Afghanistan (Mar. 23) – Coalition forces killed a Taliban expert bomb maker and wounded another insurgent with a precision airstrike in Baghlan-e Jadid district, Baghlan province, today.

The airstrike took place as the two insurgents emplaced two roadside bombs. One was a pressure plate device and the other was remote controlled.

Afghan and coalition security forces removed and destroyed both explosives and detained the wounded insurgent. The expert bomb maker constructed explosive devices for attacks against Afghan and coalition troops and trained other insurgents in constructing roadside bombs.

Before conducting the airstrike, coalition forces ensured no civilians were in the area and no property would be damaged.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan:

South

An Afghan and coalition security force captured a Taliban facilitator during an operation in Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, today. The facilitator provided weapons and bomb-making materials to insurgents throughout the district and western Kandahar province. He was also participating in illegal narcotics trafficking to fund insurgent attacks against Afghan and coalition security forces. The security force detained one additional suspected insurgent as a result of this operation.

East

In Bati Kot district, Nangarhar province, an Afghan led security force captured a Taliban facilitator during an operation today. The facilitator provided financial and logistical support to insurgents throughout the district. During this operation, the security force also detained several suspected insurgents and confiscated a shotgun.

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3 killed, 6 injured in check post raid in S.W. Pakistan

Map of Balochistan with Zhob District highlighted (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At least three security personnel were killed and six others injured when a check post in Zhob was attacked by unknown militants on Friday.

According to a private television channel, five security personnel also went missing during the attack.

The five missing security personnel could have been kidnapped by the militants as they often did in the past. Earlier this year, 15 security personnel kidnapped by militants in a check post attack were later killed.

Earlier on Friday morning, an unknown number of militants launched an attack at the Mir Ali Khalil check post in Zhob, a district located some 260 km northeast of Quetta.

The militants fled the scene after the attack. No casualties on the side of the attackers were reported.

Prior to this, a roadside remote-controlled bomb targeting a security forces' convoy injured two children in Charsadda. This was followed by another remote-controlled bomb attack on a paramilitary camp in the Wana area of South Waziristan, reportedly killing one security person and injuring three others.

Since last Monday a series of terrorist attacks targeting at the police and security forces were reported in the country, mostly small-scale raids that causing minor casualties.

from The Nation

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Taliban bomb maker killed in air strike in Afghanistan

KABUL, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A Taliban expert bomb maker was killed and another insurgent was injured on Friday in an air strike conducted by NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in northern Afghan province of Baghlan, the ISAF forces said.

"Coalition forces killed a Taliban expert bomb maker and wounded another insurgent with a precision air strike in Baghlan-e Jadid district, Baghlan province, today," the ISAF said in a statement issued here.

The air strike took place as the two insurgents emplaced two roadside bombs. One was a pressure plate device and the other was remote controlled, the statement said.

Afghan and ISAF security forces removed and destroyed both explosives and detained the wounded insurgent.

"The expert bomb maker constructed explosive devices for attacks against Afghan and coalition troops and trained other insurgents in constructing roadside bombs," it said without mentioning the name of the killed leader.

"Before conducting the air strike, coalition forces ensured no civilians were in the area and no property would be damaged," it added.

Taliban insurgents fighting Afghan and around 130,000 ISAF forces have not to confirm the death of their local leader in Baghlan.

Afghan military officials recently said that they expected " impressive attacks" in coming weeks and months as the spring known as "fighting season" is nearing in the country.

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R.I.P. - Captain Rupert Bowers

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Captain Rupert William Michael Bowers was killed in Afghanistan on 21 March 2012.

Captain Rupert William Michael Bowers. Picture via MOD

Captain Bowers, of 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) (2 MERCIAN), was attached to 2nd Battalion The Rifles (2 RIFLES), operating as an advisor to the Afghan National Army.

Captain Bowers commanded a small team responsible for the training and development of the Afghan National Army based in Forward Operating Base Ouellette, in the Mirmandab region of Nahr-e Saraj district in Helmand province.

On 21 March 2012, Captain Bowers was leading a patrol to clear a position from the threat of insurgents when he was killed by the explosion from an improvised explosive device.

Continues at: mod.uk – Captain Rupert Bowers killed in Afghanistan

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Mar.22., 2012. - ISAF Joint Command Evening Operational Update

KABUL, Afghanistan – In Nad ‘Ali district, Helmand province, a coalition security force discovered a drug cache during routine operations March 22.

The cache consisted of 1,300 pounds (590 kilograms) of opium. A small quantity of the opium was confiscated for examination and the remainder of the cache was destroyed.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan:

South

In Maiwand district, Kandahar province an Afghan-led and coalition supported security force arrested an insurgent leader yesterday. The leader directed a cell of insurgent fighters and was an improvised explosive device emplacer in the Durrai junction area. Several other suspected insurgents were detained and a cache of IED materials was discovered during the operation.

An Afghan-led and coalition supported security force killed an insurgent leader during a search operation in Deh Rawood district, Uruzgan province, March 21. The insurgent leader was an IED facilitator responsible for numerous attacks on Afghan and coalition forces in the area. During the operation the insurgent leader attempted to fire on the combined force. Sensing an immediate threat the force returned fire, killing him. Several suspected insurgents were detained as a result of the operation.

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U.S. drone strikes al-Qaida bases in southern Yemen, 30 killed

ADEN, Yemen, March 22 (Xinhua) -- A missile strike launched by a U.S drone targeted al-Qaida bases in Yemen's war-torn southern province of Abyan on Thursday, killing at least 30 fighters of the terrorist group, officials and witnesses told Xinhua.

A compound used by the al-Qaida group along with two positions in Zinjibar city, Abyan's provincial capital, were targeted by missiles fired from a U.S drone, at least 30 militants were killed and dozens of others injured, a local security official said on condition of anonymity.

Witnesses told Xinhua anonymously that a warplane also fired a missile at three vehicles of the al-Qaida group in downtown Zinjibar carrying foreign fighters, the sound of explosions and rocket fire could be clearly heard across Zinjibar city.

"There was a missile strike Thursday in Zinjibar, which targeted vehicles and bases of the al-Qaida group," the witnesses said, adding that "a lot of people were apparently killed and their vehicles were completely destroyed at the scene."

"According to our initial information two missiles believed to have been launched by a U.S drone on an al-Qaida site located in the center of Zinjibar city," a local military intelligence officer said anonymously, adding that "we have no confirmed reports about whether any foreigners were killed during the missile strike."

The al-Qaida spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

On Wednesday, suspected al-Qaida militants killed an officer of the Yemeni military intelligence agency after kidnapping him at Mukalla city, the capital of the southeastern Hadramout province, a security official told Xinhua.

Al-Qaida militants who took advantage of the conflicts in the country have seized several towns in Abyan and Shabwa provinces after fighting with government troops backed by U.S. drones.

In January 2009, al-Qaida affiliates in Saudi Arabia and Yemen officially merged and formed Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula ( AQAP).

The group, mainly entrenching in Yemen's southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, is on the terrorist list of the United States, which considers it as an increasing threat to its national security.

Al-Qaida has taken advantage of the worsening security situation in Yemen, which is one of the most impoverished countries in the world, to plot and mount attacks locally and internationally.

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Jund al Khilafah claims French shooting

By Bill Roggio - March 22, 2012 - LWJ

Jund al Khilafah, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, an al Qaeda and Haqqani Network-linked terror group that is based along the Afghan-Pakistan border, claimed credit for one of the shootings attributed to Mohamed Merah, a French citizen and resident of Toulouse who was killed in a shootout by French police earlier today after a two-day-long standoff. The terror group released a statement today that was published on several jihadist web forums. A portion of the statement, translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, is below:

On Tuesday, 19 March, one of the knights of Islam, our brother Yusuf al-Firansi [the French], we ask Allah to accept him, went out in an operation that shook the foundations of Zio-Crusaderdom in the whole world and filled the hearts of the enemies of Allah with fear. While we claim our responsibility for these blessed operations, we say that the crimes that Israel is committing against our people in the pure land of Palestine, and in Gaza in particular, will not pass without punishment. The mujahideen everywhere are determined to retaliate for every drop of blood that was spilled unjustly and aggressively in Palestine, Afghanistan, and other Muslim countries.

The Jund al Khilafah statement said the French must reconsider its "hostile tendency towards Islam and its Shariah" - a reference to its deployment of forces in Afghanistan as well as the ban on the veil for women in public places in France. The Jund al Khilafah did not take credit for the other shootings carried out by Merah that killed three French soldiers.

Interestingly enough, SITE noted that the Shumukh al-Islam forum, which is linked to al Qaeda and is a primary means of distribution for al Qaeda and other jihadist materials, pulled statement from its website. "The communiqué offered no evidence to substantiate the claim of responsibility but was posted by the same user who posted prior messages from the group," the SITE Intelligence Group stated.

Merah is known to have spent time in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is said to have attended training camps in Waziristan, so it is possible that he interacted with Jund al Khilafah in the past. However there is no evidence available to confirm that this has happened, nor has there been any indication at this time that Merah went by the name Yusuf al Firansi.

Jund al Khilafah has claimed credit for three attacks in Kazakhstan last fall, and has also released two videos of attacks against ISAF forces in Khost province, Afghanistan last year. For more information on the Jund al Khilafah, see LWJ report, Kazakh jihadi leader seeks restoration of Islamic caliphate.

Last November, Rawil Kusaynuv, the emir of the Zahir Baibars Battalion, one of the units that comprises the Jund al Khilafah, said his battalion has "a group of mujahideen of different nationalities" but is primarily made up of Kazakh nationals.

"As for us in the Battalion, more than 90% of us are from Kazakhstan, and we have many military activities on the fighting lines in Afghanistan in collaboration with the rest of the battalions," he said. "We are also interested in the military, faith, intellectual, and political support for our brothers in order for them to rise to an acceptable level of ability to wage the fight."

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2012/03/jund_al_khilafah_claims_french.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#ixzz1psTSiZXi

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R.I.P. - Sgt. Jamie D. Jarboe

DOD Identifies Army Casualty

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

            Sgt. Jamie D. Jarboe, 27, of Frankfort, Ind., died March 21 in Topeka, Kan., from wounds suffered on April 10, 2011 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.  He was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.
            
For more information the media may contact 1st Infantry Division public affairs office at 785-240-1796.

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A funeral service will be held at 10 am Saturday, March 31st at Topeka's Capitol Plaza.
Visitation is the night before at Penwell-Gabel's Southwest Chapel, SW 37th and Wanamaker.
The "Sgt. Jamie Jarboe Memorial Fund" is set up at
Quest Credit Union,
610 SW 10th St.
Topeka, Kansas

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