U.S. Service Member Killed by Afghan Soldier
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Soldier killed (MSNBC, Dec. 29, 2009)Â — An Afghan soldier opened fire at military base, killing a U.S. service member. MSNBC’s Lynn Berry reports. (00:35)
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December 29, 2009
KABUL — An Afghan soldier killed a U.S. service member and wounded two Italian soldiers on Tuesday in western Afghanistan’s Badghis province, NATO and Afghan officials said.
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Afghan Gen. Jalander Shah Bahnam said the Afghan soldier opened fire on a base in the province’s Bala Murghab district.
NATO soldiers tried to prevent the Afghan soldier from approaching an area where an allied helicopter was about to land, said Bahnam, the corps commander for the Afghan National Army’s western district.
He said the incident was still being investigated, but initial reports indicated that the Afghan soldier became angry and opened fire.
Allied troops and the soldier’s Afghan colleagues returned fire and wounded him, Bahnam said.
The two Italian soldiers suffered minor wounds and went back to work immediately, Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said in a statement. …
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12/31/2009 Update
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 1012-09
December 31, 2009
U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
On the Web: http://www.defense.gov/releases/
Media Contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public Contact: http://www.defense.gov/landing/questions.aspx
or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1
DOD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Spino, 45, of Waterbury, Conn., died Dec. 29 in Bala Morghab, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he was shot while unloading supplies. He was assigned to the 274th Forward Surgical Team, 44th Medical Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.
The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
For more information the media may contact the XVIII Airborne Corps public affairs office at 910-396-5600 or 910-396-5620.
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Iraqi Soldier Guns Down U.S. Troops (Sept. 8, 2010)
GI Opens Fire on U.S. Troops in Iraq (May 12, 2009)
Iraq Insurgent Infiltration (May 2, 2009)
Iraqi Soldier Kills U.S. Troops (Nov. 13, 2008)
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Pakistan Appeals for Calm as Blast Toll Hits 43
People walk in a market area burned by angry protesters after a suicide attack on a Shiite Muslims mourning procession, on Monday, Dec. 28, 2009 in Karachi, Pakistan. (Photo credit: Fareed Khan / AP)
The Associated Press and Reuters via MSNBC
December 29, 2009
KARACHIÂ — Authorities appealed for calm Tuesday after a bombing against a Shiite Muslim procession killed 43 in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi, setting off riots and igniting fears of sectarian unrest.
Security was tight as thousands of people gathered in central Karachi for funerals of some of those killed in Monday’s bombing of a Shiite procession marking the key holy day of Ashoura.
The attack sparked riots as people rampaged through the city, setting fire to markets and stores, including the port city’s largest wholesale market. More than 200 firefighters were still battling the flames 24 hours after the attack, with authorities calling for reinforcements from the city of Hyderabad, 105 miles north of Karachi, Pakistan’s main commercial hub. …
“We believe that it was a planned conspiracy,” said Interior Minister Rehman Malik. …
Karachi has largely been spared the Taliban-linked violence that has struck much of the rest of the country, a fact that analysts believe is driven by the group’s tendency to use the teeming metropolis as a place to rest and raise money. But the city has been the scene of frequent ethnic, political and sectarian violence.
Bomber’s head, torso found
Bomb disposal squad official Munir Sheikh said some 35 pounds of high explosive were used in the bombing. He said the intact head and torso of the suspected suicide bomber was found on the third floor of a nearby office building, where it had crashed through a window.
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Residents in apartments near the blast site tossed down body parts that had been cast into their homes from the explosion, while birds dove down to pick at the flesh amid damaged vehicles and motorbikes. …
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Malik on Monday pointed his finger at a cluster of militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, al-Qaida, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Mohammad, that he said have a joint goal to destabilize Pakistan.
Pakistani authorities say sectarian groups have teamed up with Taliban and al-Qaida militants waging war against the government in a joint effort to destabilize Pakistan. More than 500 people have been killed in attacks since mid-October when the army launched a major anti-Taliban offensive in the country’s northwest. …
Hundreds of shops destroyed
Karachi Mayor Mustafa Kamal said that hundreds of shops had been destroyed, with damages estimated to run into millions of dollars. …
On Saturday, another blast near a Shiite procession wounded 19 people.
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3/5/2011 Related report
Marines in deadly Afghan valley face combat stress (AP, March 5, 2011) – When U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Derek Goins deployed to the most dangerous place in Afghanistan five months ago, he mentally prepared for the risk of getting shot by the Taliban or stepping on bombs buried throughout this southern river valley. But he wasn’t ready for what happened to his two best friends, who were shot to death inside a patrol base by an Afghan army soldier who escaped into the arms of the Taliban. … The Marines who arrived in Sangin district of Helmand province in October [2010] have seen the kind of tragedy and combat stress that few can imagine — more than 30 deaths and 175 wounded, with scores losing arms and legs when they stepped on bombs. … Full story
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IRAQ UPDATE
Gunmen Kill 5 Sunni Guards in Iraq
A U.S. Army soldier inspects the site of a bombing at a parking lot belonging to a government office in eastern Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2009. (Photo credit: Khalid Mohammed / AP)
December 29, 2009
BAGHDAD — Gunmen killed five Sunni security guards — including one who was beheaded — in a gruesome pre-dawn slaying Tuesday at a village checkpoint in central Iraq, officials said.
The five victims were members of the Sons of Iraq, or Awakening Councils — a Sunni-dominated security force now on the government payroll that has been targeted in revenge attacks after helping turn the tide against al-Qaida.
Authorities were alerted to the checkpoint in the village of Tal Massoud shortly after the 2 a.m. shooting, said one police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the attack with the media. The village is about 30 miles north of Baghdad.
The police official described a scene of bullet-riddled bodies littered across the checkpoint. One of the bodies, he said, had been beheaded.
The victims were part of the Sunni tribe of Khazraj. They are the latest example of attacks on Sahwa, the Arabic word for Awakening. Some of the force fought American troops as insurgents, before tiring of the violence and turning on their former allies, the militant group al-Qaida in Iraq.
The councils have been widely credited with stabilizing Iraq after joining up with U.S. and Iraqi forces in the anti-al-Qaida drive about three years ago. But they have been hit by a steady barrage of revenge attacks since then. …
Monitoring attacks
The U.S. is seeking to ease some of the group’s concerns. The American military also has been monitoring attacks against Awakening leaders — 212 of whom have been killed in the past two years. The U.S. military, which tallied the deaths, blames al-Qaida for the attacks.
In other deadly shootings on Tuesday, an Iraqi army intelligence officer was killed in the eastern Baghdad neighborhood of al Baladiyat, Iraqi police officials said.
Drive-by shooters targeted Iraqi Army 1st Lt. Wadi Direa Atiyah as he was driving his car, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Atiyah was wearing civilian clothing at the time.
On Tuesday evening, two women were killed and five people were wounded when three mortar rounds landed in al Baladiyat, a police and a medical official said. Among the wounded was a four-year-old child, they said. …
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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — December 29, 2008
Iraq Civilian Deaths Near 100,000
One-year retrospective: One year ago today, IÂ reported that 8,300 to 9,000 civilians were killed in Iraq in 2008, bringing the total number of civilian deaths since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 to at least 98,400, according to figures released by Iraq Body Count.
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January 7th, 2010 at 1:52 am
[…] Army Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Spino, 45, Waterbury, Conn., died Dec. 29, 2009 in Bala Morghab, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he was shot while unloading supplies. He was assigned to the 274th Forward Surgical Team, 44th Medical Command, Fort Bragg, N.C. [More information] […]
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[…] Army Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Spino, 45, Waterbury, Conn., died Dec. 29, 2010 in Bala Morghab, Badghis province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when he was shot while unloading supplies. He was assigned to the 274th Forward Surgical Team, 44th Medical Command, Fort Bragg, N.C. – a combat nurse and paratrooper who had jumped into battle areas to treat wounded soldiers. SSG Spino returned from Iraq in February 2009 and deployed to Afghanistan in November 2009. He was due to return from Afghanistan in about 30 days when he was killed by a rogue Aghan army soldier. […]
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