Pakistan Says US Airstrike Killed 11 of Its Soldiers
Thursday 12 June 2008
by: Carlotta Gall and Graham Bowley, The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/article/pakistan-says-us-airstrike-killed-11-its-soldiers
Pakistani villagers carry a coffin of a Pakistan paramilitary soldier who lost his life during a clash at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Wednesday, June 11, 2008. Pakistan's army has accused the US-led coalition of killing 11 Pakistani paramilitary troops in an airstrike along the Afghan border. (Photo: AP / Moahammad Sajjad)
Islamabad, Pakistan - The Pakistani Army broadly condemned on Wednesday what it said was an airstrike by United States-led coalition forces that killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers during a clash with Afghan troops on the border with Afghanistan late Tuesday.
Calling the airstrike "unprovoked and cowardly," the Pakistani military said the deaths "hit at the very basis of cooperation" in the battle against terrorism, according to an army statement quoted by news agencies. "Such acts of aggression do not serve the common cause of fighting terrorism," it said.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
PAKISTAN IS TICKED OFF AT US BECAUSE AN AIR STRIKE KILLED 11 OF THEIR SOLDIERS
IF "WE" ARE "SUCCEEDING" IN IRAQ AS McCAIN SAYS, THEN WHY IS ALL THIS HAPPENING IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN?
Republican candidate for President John McCain was on the NBC "Today" show on Wednesday and again he repeated the LIE that we are succeeding in Iraq. Does McCain read reports like this or this just another piece of evidence he doesn't want to look at?
There are more U.S. casualties in Iraq and there are more incidents of violence in Iraq and Afghanistan and we document them here just to prove out of touch Sen. John McCain is with what is REALLY happening in Iraq and Afghanistan:
SOURCE: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/
Casualty Reports:
Spc. 4 Kenneth E. Harker, 23, a member of the U.S. Army's 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Polk, La. left leg has been amputated below the knee, his broken right leg is in a cast, and he sustained shrapnel wounds in his left arm, facial cuts and a broken nose. The blast killed one of the three soldiers in the Humvee and also injured the driver, he said. he was injured, the result of the Humvee accident in which he was a turret gunner in hitting a roadside bomb while on patrol in the area of Sadr City in Baghdad.
John James, an infantry officer, suffered a wound to his hand. He is recovering from minor injuries suffered in an attack in Afghanistan on May 30, officials with the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs said. A military source said the men were in a Humvee that was hit by a makeshift bomb constructed by insurgents. The officers are part of a team of 16 New Jersey National Guard troops.
L/Cpl Martyn Compton, of Kent, suffered third degree burns to 70% of his body, losing his ears and nose, and was shot in the leg in a bomb attack in 2006.Sapper Martin Little, 21, from 9 (Para) Squadron Royal Engineers was injured when a lone militant detonated an explosive (suicide) device as a foot patrol was returning to base in the Upper Sangin Valley in the volatile Helmand province. The blast fatally injured three others. Sapper Little, from Chipping, near Garstang, is now being treated at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham and is expected to make a good recovery. Sapper Little, originally from Preston but whose family now live in Chipping, is believed to have suffered wounds to one of his arms and his right leg as he turned away from the blast.
The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by CENTCOM. Pfc. Thomas F. Duncan, III died during combat operations in Sinjar, Iraq on Monday, June 9th. No other details were released.
MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Corps – Iraq soldier in from non-battle related causes in Baghdad on Wednesday, June 11th. No other details were released.
Reported Security incidents:
Baghdad:#1: A roadside bomb has exploded in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing at least five people, police say. The blast struck two minibuses in the mainly Shia Kadhimiyah district in north-west Baghdad. A woman and seven-year-old boy were among the dead minibus passengers and at least 10 other people were wounded, police said.A roadside bomb went off near the textile factory in the Kadimiyah neighborhood in northern Baghdad, killing five people and wounding ten others, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Most of the victims were passengers in a passing minibus, the source said.
#2: At least one civilian died in another explosion in south-west Baghdad, Iraqi police said. In the south-west Karrada area, the fatality occurred when mortar rounds hit a busy street. Five people were wounded, police said.Another roadside bomb exploded close to a police patrol near the Mission commercial compound in the Mu'asker al-Rasheed thoroughfare in southern Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding seven others. The blast apparently missed its target, striking nearby civilian cars and shops, the source said.
#3: Few minutes later, another bomb was detonated near a gas station in Baghdad's Benook district, injuring two civilians.A third roadside bomb went off in Baghdad's northeastern neighborhood of Bunoug, wounding two people, he said
#4: In the capital's Shiite-dominated Kazimiyah district, a bomb went off on a bus injuring four passengers, police sources told VOI.
#5: A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol at Al-Mission complex in Karrada neighborhood (east Baghdad). One police was killed and seven others were injured.
Diyala Prv:#1: Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday blew up an Iraqi army officer's house in west of Khaniqeen, Diala province, a senior official said. Unknown gunmen detonated the house in al-Saadiya district, west of Khaniqeen, by planting a bomb inside it," Ahmad Zarkoushi, the mayor of the district, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq. The explosion destroyed the house and damaged the nearby houses," he added, noting that the blast left no casualties.
Bahraz:#1: A joint force of U.S. and Iraqi personnel killed two al-Qaeda gunmen and arrested 16 more during a security operation waged south of Baaquba, a security source said on Wednesday. "Joint U.S.-Iraqi forces launched a military operation late Tuesday targeting al-Qaeda group in Bahraz district, south of Baaquba, where they killed two gunmen and arrested 16 others," the source, who asked not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq.
Kut:#1: A policeman was killed and four were injured on Wednesday when an improvised explosive device went off near a police vehicle patrol in central Kut, said a police source.
Kirkuk:#1: Four policemen and a civilian were wounded on Wednesday in a roadside bomb explosion in western Kirkuk, said a police source."An explosive charge went off targeting a police vehicle patrol in Sahet al-Tayaran in western Kirkuk, wounding four policemen and a passing civilian," the source told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq on condition of anonymity.A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol at Al-Tayran square in Kirkuk city. 6 people were injured
#2: The social and religious committee in Kirkuk city council buried 4 unidentified dead bodies including one for a woman.Al Anbar Prv:#1: Police said they found the bodies of five men, shot and tortured, near Falluja, 50 km (35 miles) west of Baghdad.
Afghanistan:
1: Pakistan said on Wednesday an "unprovoked and cowardly" air strike by U.S. forces had killed 11 Pakistani soldiers on its border with Afghanistan and undermined the basis of security cooperation. The soldiers were killed at a border post in the Mohmand region, opposite Afghanistan's Kunar province, late on Tuesday as U.S. coalition forces in Afghanistan battled militants attacking from Pakistan, a Pakistani security official said.
#2: MILITANTS in Pakistan executed a woman after accusing her of being a spy for the United States and a prostitute, and said others would face the same fate, a government official and villagers said today. It was the first time that a woman had been killed in northwest Pakistan after being accused of spying although militants have killed many men they accused of helping US forces in neighbouring Afghanistan. The body of the unidentified woman was found dumped beside a road near the town of Khar in the Bajaur region on the Afghan border, a hotbed of support for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. A note was found with the body, a government official said.
#3: Officials says 31 people died in airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan.Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary says most of the 31 people were foreign fighters. But Khalid Farooqi, a lawmaker from Paktika, says at least nine civilians were killed. The U.S.-led coalition says four civilians were killed and that several militants died in the clashes in northern Paktika province early Wednesday. Twelve militants were detained.Farooqi says the operation apparently targeted militant commander Mullah Mohammad Nabi and fighters who served under him.
SO TELL US AGAIN SEN. JOHN McCAIN HOW WELL WE ARE DOING IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN.
STARS AND STRIPES REPORTS:PENTAGON COULD CARE LESS: THEY WILL SELL NIGHT VISION GOGGLE TO IRAQ DESPITE CHANCES THEY WILL END UP IN HANDS OF INSURGENTS
The Pentagon plans to sell 4,000 pair of night vision goggles to Iraq even though many experts fear the goggles will fall into the hands of the insurgents and will be used to kill American troops.
Is the Pentagon that hard up for money, or did some lobbyist get to them?
Pentagon plans to sell goggles to Iraq
Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Wednesday, June 11, 2007
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55444
The Pentagon plans to sell up to 4,000 sets of high-tech night vision goggles to Iraq, despite U.S. government audits showing the deal could leave a critical U.S. military asset vulnerable to theft or diversion to insurgents, USA Today reported Tuesday.
The goggles are part of a major, $1.4 billion proposed sale of weapons and other military gear for Iraqi forces, which have been faulted along with their Pentagon supervisors for being unable to account for thousands of firearms and other battlefield equipment provided by the United States, the newspaper noted.
The sale also would send Humvees, rifles, grenade launchers and cargo trucks to Iraq, which has become a leading foreign buyer of U.S. weaponry, USA Today wrote.
The night-vision goggles, which have capabilities far beyond commercial versions, are particularly sensitive, according to USA Today, because they give troops such an advantage that the military often launches its most dangerous missions after dark.
"The night-vision goggles are an absolute treasure — it’s imperative that not one set gets into the wrong hands," Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., top Republican on the House oversight subcommittee on national security and foreign affairs, told the paper.
The Iraqis need the goggles to become a capable force in nighttime operations and take over security duties, Shays said, but "we have to have a real sense of confidence that they can keep track of them. … We haven’t done a good job of keeping track in the past, so we need to learn those lessons."
NICE AND QUIET IN BAGHDAD WEDNESDAY: ONLY 5 WERE KILLED
We keep hearing from Sen. John McCain, the Bush administration, and their propaganda arm, FAUX NEWS, how remarkably quiet things are in Baghdad. I guess when you have your head stuck in the sand you can't really see what is happening in the Iraqi capitol.
Here is what took place Wednesday morning in Baghdad:
BAGHDAD - Iraqi police say a roadside bomb has killed five people riding minibuses in Baghdad.
An officer says the bomb exploded near a bridge in the mostly Shiite Hurriyah neighborhood around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq;_ylt=AiO5rt2Gu0MWUMtxj.bLKFFX6GMA
He says a woman and 7-year-old boy are among the dead, and at least 10 other people are wounded.
Meanwhile, police say two mortar rounds hit a busy street in the central Baghdad area of Karrada, killing a civilian and wounding five others.
The officers spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.
BE THE FIRST ON YOUR BLOCK TO HAVE THE OFFICIAL IRAQI GOVERNMENT WEB SITE
The Iraqi government has worked long and hard to put together this official Iraqi government web site.
Remember: The United States is shelling out 9 BILLION dollars a month to sustain the Iraq war and to prop up the Iraqi government.
Iraq marshaled all their computer savvy resources and this is what they came up with as the Official Site of the Iraqi Government.
http://www.cabinet.iq/
