. Military Space News .




.
IRAQ WARS
Attacks kill five US soldiers, 20 Iraqis
by Staff Writers
Baghdad (AFP) June 6, 2011

Attacks killed five American soldiers and 20 Iraqis on Monday, the deadliest day for US forces in Iraq in more than two years, just months before all of them must withdraw.

The violence raises major doubts over Iraqi security capabilities ahead of a year-end deadline for the US pullout, with Washington pressing Baghdad to decide soon whether or not it wants an extended American military presence.

"Five US service members were killed Monday in central Iraq," said a brief US army statement. The names and details of the deceased are being withheld until next of kin can be informed, it added.

Captain Dan Churchill, a US military spokesman contacted by AFP, declined to give details on how or where the soldiers died.

An Iraqi interior ministry official said at least three rockets struck a base in east Baghdad where US soldiers were present, but could not specify if it was an American or Iraqi installation.

An Iraqi police official, however, said five rockets were fired at an American base on Baghdad's outskirts.

Both officials said the rockets were fired at dawn.

The deaths were the most of American service personnel in a single day since May 11, 2009, when a US soldier was arrested and charged for having opened fire on five of his comrades on a base just outside Baghdad.

They bring to 4,459 the number of US soldiers who have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003, according to an AFP tally based on data compiled by independent website www.icasualties.org.

The remaining 45,000 US forces are primarily charged with training and equipping their Iraqi counterparts, although they still take part in joint counter-terror operations.

Their bases still come under frequent rocket attack by insurgents.

Also on Monday, violence in Baghdad and central Iraq killed 20 people, including 12 struck by a car bomb driven by a suicide attacker in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, officials said.

The fatalities in Tikrit included military intelligence Colonel Nuri Sabah al-Mashhadani and two other officers, while 20 other people were wounded, according to a police captain and an army captain, both speaking on condition of anonymity.

Nine soldiers were among the dead, including the three officers.

The explosion struck at 9:30 am (0630 GMT), targeting the main gate of a fortified compound housing several of Saddam's presidential palaces, which is home to security offices.

The compound is locally called Tikrit's "Green Zone," alluding to the heavily secured centre of Baghdad where parliament and the US embassy are located.

The unrest came three days after attacks at a Tikrit mosque and a hospital where the victims were being treated killed 24 people.

Friday's violence was the worst in Tikrit since a March 29 Al-Qaeda raid on the city's provincial council offices, which led to an hours-long firefight with security forces that killed 58 people.

Tikrit is the capital of mainly Sunni Arab Salaheddin province, which was a key battleground in the insurgency that followed the US-led invasion.

In the western city of Ramadi, insurgents detonated bombs around the house of a local police chief overnight, killing four of his family members and wounding two others, a police official in the city said.

The police chief, Major Jumaa Abdulrahman Aswad, was not at the house when the blasts struck.

Three separate attacks in Baghdad also left four people dead, including a soldier, and 12 others wounded, security officials said.

Iraqi leaders are still considering whether to request an extension of the US military presence, and top American officials have pressed their Iraqi counterparts to decide soon.




Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century

.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries


Al-Qaeda claims deadly west Iraq blasts: SITE
Baghdad (AFP) June 6, 2011 - Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq has claimed a spate of explosions in the western city of Ramadi that killed 10 people last week, a US-based monitoring service said on Monday.

The explosions on June 2 also wounded 15 other people near provincial government offices in Ramadi, capital of the mostly Sunni province of Anbar and a former insurgent bastion.

The SITE monitoring service said the Islamic State of Iraq claimed the bombings in a communique posted in an Islamist forum on Saturday.

"They targeted the criminals of the various security agencies in the government complex in the city of al-Ramadi, which consists of the headquarters of al-Anbar province, the provincial council and the police command building," the ISI statement said, according to a translation provided by SITE.

Insurgents had initially set off a roadside bomb, followed by a suicide blast and then a vehicle packed with explosives was detonated. A fourth explosion, a car bomb driven by a suicide attacker, later targeted Ramadi's main hospital.

Ramadi has frequently been attacked over past months.

On January 17, a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-packed car in a convoy carrying Anbar governor Qassim Mohammed Abid, wounding three bodyguards and six policemen but leaving Abid unharmed.

Anbar provincial government offices in Ramadi were targeted by attackers three times in 2010, and on December 30, 2009, Abid lost his left hand in a suicide attack that killed 23 people and wounded 30.

The province was a key Sunni insurgent base in the years after the US-led invasion of 2003, but since 2006 local tribes have sided with the American military and day-to-day violence has dropped dramatically.

Violence has fallen sharply across Iraq since its peak in 2006 and 2007, though attacks remain common. A total of 177 Iraqis were killed as a result of violence in May, according to official figures.





. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



IRAQ WARS
Iraq rights activist criticises PM on live TV
Baghdad (AFP) June 5, 2011
A leading human rights activist confronted Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on live television on Sunday over what she said was the insinuation that rights groups were fronts for terrorism. Maliki delivered a speech at the opening of a conference on Iraq's national rights action plan and referred to last month's arrest of a man security forces said had taken part in the massacre of a wedd ... read more


IRAQ WARS
NATO chief rejects Russia's missile defence proposal

Russia softens stance on missile defence: report

Army Receives First THAAD Missiles

Medvedev says Russia, US 'losing time' on missile defense

IRAQ WARS
Raytheon-Boeing Team Responds to Warfighter's Call for Joint Air-To-Ground Missile

West to have 80,000 cruise missiles by 2020

Boeing Awarded PAC-3 Seeker Production Contract

Israel to switch Hawks for David's Sling

IRAQ WARS
AeroVironment Receives New Orders for Digital Raven Systems

NMSU stages successful UAV test over Hatch

RAF Announces New Reaper Squadron

US Navy and Northrop Grumman-led UCAS-D Flight Test Team Honored Twice by USAF

IRAQ WARS
Lockheed system proves its worth

Intelsat General To Support Armed Forces Radio And Television Service

Northrop Grumman Awarded Continuing Operation of Battlefield Airborne Communications Node Contract

ADTI Launches High Performance Antenna Arrays Protype Program

IRAQ WARS
Northrop Grumman Showcases Firebird and Other Emerging ISR Solutions

Mexico drug crisis a boon for defense deal

World Wars camouflage technique could have benefits in modern warfare

Israel signs high-tech deal with India

IRAQ WARS
Boeing Delivers Two F-15K Slam Eagles to the Republic of Korea

Russia delivers another batch of naval fighters to India

Arms sales to Arabs states under fire

GD to Deliver Through Life Support for ASLAV, M1A1 and M88A2 Fleets

IRAQ WARS
NATO, Russian jets hold first ever joint exercise

Gates: U.S. Asia-Pacific presence to grow

China backs Ban for second term as UN chief

Ban Ki-moon reelection campaign gathers pace

IRAQ WARS
MLD Test Moves Navy A Step Closer To Lasers For Ship Self-Defense

US Navy And Northrop Grumman Accomplish Goals For At-Sea Demonstration Of Maritime Laser


Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News
.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2011 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement