Sunday, June 3, 2012

Foreigners among 10 dead in Waziristan drone strike on Sunday morning

ISLAMABAD (PAN): Ten suspected insurgents were killed in fresh US drone strikes in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region of South Waziristan on Sunday morning, an official said.

The CIA-operated drone fired four missiles at a compound five kilometres from Wana, the main town in Waziristan, killing seven people, a security official told Pajhwok Afghan News on condition of anonymity.

He would not say whether the dead were civilians or militants, but locals confirmed insurgents were killed in the raid, the second in as many days. One rebel commander Mullah Malang, loyal to Commander Mullah Nazir, was among the dead.

Five drones flying over the Wacha Dana area near the Afghanistan border since Saturday carried out the attack on Sunday morning, injuring three people, said local journalist Zafar Wazir.

He said the suspected fighters were offering condolences to the brother of a militant commander killed during a similar strike a day earlier. The commander's brother and two foreigners were among the dead.

from Pajhwok
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R.I.P. - Corporal Michael John Thacker

Corporal John Thacker [photo via MOD.UK]
Corporal Michael John Thacker killed in Afghanistan
 
A Military Operations news article

3 Jun 12

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Corporal Michael John Thacker, from 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh, was killed in Afghanistan on Friday 1 June 2012.


Corporal Thacker was part of the Fire Support Group manning Observation Post ‘Tir’ in the Helmand district of Nahr-e Saraj, when he was hit by small arms fire. He received immediate medical attention and was evacuated by helicopter, but sadly could not be saved despite the best efforts of medical staff.

Corporal Michael Thacker was born on 12 February 1985 in Swindon, Wiltshire. He attended Fairwater High School in Cwmbran, South Wales, before joining the 1st Battalion The Royal Welch Fusiliers in 2004.

He deployed to Iraq on Operation TELIC 4 and then to South Armagh in 2005, before the Battalion was amalgamated to become 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh and moved to Cyprus in 2006.

Corporal Thacker deployed on Operation HERRICK 16 as part of Combined Force Burma; returning to Afghanistan having served there on Operation HERRICK 8 and Operation HERRICK 11.

He was a larger than life character and was extremely well known to the Battalion, Officers and Soldiers alike. His loss will be sorely felt.

Corporal Thacker leaves behind his wife Catherine, two-year old daughter Millie, father David, mother Alison and brothers Matthew, Mark and Ashley.

Read more: http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/CorporalMichaelJohnThackerKilledInAfghanistan.htm
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R.I.P. - Staff Sgt. Alexander G. Povilaitis

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

            Staff Sgt. Alexander G. Povilaitis, 47, of Dawsonville, Ga., died May 31, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when the enemy attacked with an improvised explosive device.

            Povilaitis was assigned to 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

            For more information related to this release, media may contact the I Corps public affairs office at 253-477-3048 or 253-370-9861.

---

from universityplace.patch.com:
By Brent Champaco

The 47-year-old with the 570th Sapper Company, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord died Thursday in Afghanistan.

According to the Dept. of Defense, Staff Sgt. Alexander G. Povilaitis, 47, of Dawsonville, Ga., died May 31 in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.  He was assigned to the 570th Sapper Company, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

According to unit records, Staff Sgt. Povilaitis entered the Army in February 1984, and he served three years as a Single Channel Radio Operator. He had a break in service until March 2008 when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve.

On September 23, 2008, he re-entered the active duty Army and reported to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., for initial Army training and Advanced Individual Training in Military Occupational Specialty 12B (Combat Engineer). Upon completion of AIT he reported to White Sands Missile Range, N.M. He deployed with his unit in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom November 2009 through July 2010.

Staff Sgt. Povilaitis reported to Joint Base Lewis-McChord on June 23, 2011, where he was assigned to the 570th Sapper Company, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade.  He deployed with his unit to Afghanistan in July 2011. This was his first deployment to Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt Povilaitis’ civilian and military education includes a high school diploma (1983), and Military Occupational Specialty 25C: Radio Operator-Maintainer (1984), Airborne School (1984), Military Occupational Specialty 12B: Combat Engineer (2008), Warrior Leader Course (2010), Combatives    Level 1 (2010), Urban Breach Course (2009), and Unit Prevention Leader (2009).

His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal (three awards), Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal (two awards), National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, Iraq Campaign Medal with campaign star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Ribbon,  NATO Medal, Combat Action Badge, Parachutist Badge.

On behalf of the entire Joint Base Lewis-McChord military and civilian community, we extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Staff Sgt. Alexander Povilaitis.
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R.I.P. - Pfc. Leroy Deronde III

DOD Identifies Army Casualties
        
 The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

            They died May 27, in Chak-E Wardak District, Afghanistan, when their unit was attacked by enemy forces.

            Killed were:

            Spc. Kedith L. Jacobs, 21, of Denver, Colo, and

            Pfc. Leroy Deronde III, 22, Jersey City, New Jersey.

            Spc. Jacobs was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.

            Pfc. Deronde was assigned to F Company, 125th Brigade Support Battalion attached to 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.

            For more information related to this release, media may contact the 1st Armored Division public affairs office at 915-744-8406 or 915-203-3769.

            CORRECTION:  June, 2, 2012; no. 457-12:  The unit for Spc. Jacobs was corrected to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.  The unit for Pfc. Deronde was corrected to F Company, 125th Brigade Support Battalion attached to 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.

---
from nj.com:

By Julia Terruso and Richard Khavkine/The Star-Ledger

JERSEY CITY — Army Pfc. LeRoy DeRonde III was coming into his own, distancing himself from a hard-luck childhood and stepping up to take care of his family.

The 22-year-old Jersey City man saw the military as a way to do that, his family said, in a plan that began to form eight years ago when his mother, Elizabeth, died of cancer. Her absence shook the family’s foundation and then profoundly galvanized her eldest son.

"He realized he was going to put the family on his shoulders. The military was his calling to do that financially," DeRonde’s cousin, Jason Owen, said last night outside the soldier’s family’s apartment on West Side Avenue. "From the time he decided that it was full steam ahead."

But DeRonde was one of two soldiers killed on May 27 when their unit was attacked in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said today. DeRonde, assigned to the 125th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss Texas, died in the Wardak District in central Afghanistan.

DeRonde is at least the 44th service member with ties to New Jersey to be killed in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001. An additional 102 service members from New Jersey have died in Iraq since 2003.

"His life didn’t take hold until he was 22," said Owen, who noted DeRonde sent monthly checks home. "He was really taking the reins, he was ascending. The real tragedy here is from an upbringing that wasn’t so good he was working ... to help his family and to better himself."

DeRonde was born and raised in the city’s Bergen neighborhood. As a child, he kept mostly to himself.

His father, Leroy DeRonde Jr., said he loved playing PlayStation 3 with his brother, Harold, who is now 17.

"The two were inseparable," DeRonde’s father said. He added that since his son’s deployment a year ago, they would talk using the online video chat service Skype.

"If he wasn’t on, my hands would shake," he said. "It’s a terrible thing."

Through the years, and in DeRonde’s short life, the tight-knit family has known both the fear of loss and tragedy.

At 5, Harold was diagnosed with leukemia and given three weeks to live. The family went to Disney World on a Make-A-Wish vacation. It was the only real vacation they ever took together, Leroy DeRonde Jr. said. By luck, Harold survived.

But when their mother died, DeRonde made a plan that required groundwork. He got his GED and then 15 college credits, both of which were required before he could join the Army, which he did in January 2011.

DeRonde, his family said, was kind of person who, when he figured out where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do, nothing could stop him.

After basic training, DeRonde’s family saw him off at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. — as one of a handful of graduates to have been immediately promoted to a Private E2.

"He’d been so quiet, but he knew everyone, they knew his name," his half-sister, Jennifer Owen, said. "In six months, he really came out of his shell."

Funeral arrangements are pending.
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R.I.P. - Spc. Kedith L. Jacobs

DOD Identifies Army Casualties

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

            They died May 27, in Chak-E Wardak District, Afghanistan, when their unit was attacked by enemy forces.

            Killed were:

            Spc. Kedith L. Jacobs, 21, of Denver, Colo, and

            Pfc. Leroy Deronde III, 22, Jersey City, New Jersey.

            Spc. Jacobs was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.

            Pfc. Deronde was assigned to F Company, 125th Brigade Support Battalion attached to 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.

            For more information related to this release, media may contact the 1st Armored Division public affairs office at 915-744-8406 or 915-203-3769.

            CORRECTION:  June, 2, 2012; no. 457-12:  The unit for Spc. Jacobs was corrected to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.  The unit for Pfc. Deronde was corrected to F Company, 125th Brigade Support Battalion attached to 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.

---

A Denver man was among two soldiers killed in Afghanistan last weekend , the U.S. Department of Defense announced today.

Spc. Kedith L. Jacobs, 21, was supporting Operation Eduring Freedom when his unit was attacked by enemy forces on May 27. Pfc. Leroy Deronde, 22 of Jersey City, N.J., was also killed in the attack.

Jacobs was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.

Both soldiers were deployed with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division in eastern Afghanistan. The brigade deployed about 3,500 soldiers from Fort Bliss in October and will return to Texas this month . The brigade is conducting combat operations and advising Afghan security forces.
There were 36 U.S. military casualties in Afghanistan in May, marking the deadliest month for American forces so far in 2012.

The American soldiers' death toll in May brought the total U.S. fatalities since the war started in October 2001 to 1,881, including 124 this year.

About 60 Fort Bliss soldiers have died in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.

Maj. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss commanding general, issued a statement of condolence late Saturday:

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends, and fellow Soldiers of Spc. Jacobs and Pfc. Deronde during this difficult time," he said. "Team Bliss and the 1st Armored Division will never forget these two outstanding Iron Soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice during combat in Afghanistan."
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24 armed insurgents killed, 2 wounded and 3 others arrested by ANP



Publish Date: Jun 03, 2012
24 armed insurgents killed, two wounded and three others arrested by Afghan National Police

Counterterrorism:
During the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army, NDS and Coalition Forces launched nine joint clearance operations in Kunduz, Badakhshan, Kandahar, Helmand, Logar, Khost, and Badghis provinces.

As a result of these operations, 24 armed insurgents were killed, two wounded and three others were arrested by Afghan National Police.
Also, during these operations, Afghan National Police discovered and confiscated 36 kilograms of opium, one rocket launcher, seven different types of weapons, seven heavy rounds, one hand grenade, four magazines and four motorbikes.

During the same 24 hour period, Afghan National Border Police discovered and defused four anti-vehicle mines as a result of security operation in the Shamalzai District of Zabul province.
Working together the public and their police force can create a saver environment for all of us to live.
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June 03., 2012. - ISAF Joint Command Morning Operational Update

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan and coalition security forces conducted an operation to detain an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan facilitator in Argo district, Badakhshan province, today.

The IMU facilitator supplies weapons and explosive devices to insurgents for attacks against Afghan security forces and coalition troops throughout province.

During the operation, the security force was attacked by two groups of insurgents. The security force returned fire and requested a precision airstrike.

After the airstrike, the Afghan and coalition security force conducted a follow-on assessment of the area and determined no civilians had been harmed and multiple insurgents had been killed.

As a result of the operation, the security force recovered five AK-47s, three RPG launchers, several RPG rounds and multiple grenades.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan:

South

In Shah Wali Kot district, Kandahar province, an Afghan and coalition security force conducted an operation to detain a Taliban leader today. The leader conducts roadside bombings and other attacks against Afghan civilians, Afghan National Security Forces and coalition troops throughout the district. He also manages the construction of explosive devices and distributes them to the insurgents under his control. The security force detained multiple suspected insurgents as a result of this operation.

East

An Afghan and coalition security force conducted an operation to detain a Haqqani leader in Sharan district, Paktika province, today. The leader plans and conducts roadside bombings, suicide attacks and other operations against Afghan and coalition troops. He also recruits and supplies insurgents with suicide vests, weapons, ammunition and other equipment. During the operation, the security force detained two suspected insurgents.

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June 02., 2012. - RC Southwest Operational Update

Regional Command Southwest Operations Update: Insurgents arrested and killed, Bomb Cache and one civilian dies due to an IED.

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan –
The Afghan Uniformed Police brought in 250lbs of explosives and other IED materials to an ISAF location in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province, June 1. The materials were subsequently safely destroyed and no longer pose a threat to local civilians.

Also yesterday, a local national struck an IED in the Sangin district. Local nationals brought the severely injured person to an ISAF location to receive medical attention, but he died of wounds en route.

The Helmand Governor's Media Centre reports today that in separate planned security operations conducted over the past four days an insurgent commander was killed. Afghan security forces also seized 37kg of narcotics and arrested five insurgents including a known insurgent who had been accused of killing a policeman. Afghan security forces also reacted to insurgent attacks during this period and in one incident in the Musa Qala district, 15 insurgents were killed, leaving two police injured. During this same period another police officer was killed in a separate incident in the Gereshk district.
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ISAF Forces rescue four civilians from Taliban

KABUL, Afghanistan – The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirms the rescue of four civilians who were being held by insurgents in northern Afghanistan during an early morning raid today.

Ms. Helen Johnston, Ms. Moragwe Oirere, and two Afghan civilians were kidnapped on May 22, 2012, in Badakhshan province, Afghanistan. Ms. Johnston and her colleagues are employees of Medair, a humanitarian non-governmental organization based near Lausanne, Switzerland.

“First, I would like to thank the Afghan Ministry of the Interior and Minister Mohammadi for their tremendous support throughout this crisis. Second, this morning’s mission, conducted by coalition forces, exemplifies our collective and unwavering commitment to defeat the Taliban,” said Gen. John R. Allen, commander, International Security Assistance Force. “I’m extremely grateful to the Afghan authorities and proud of the ISAF forces that planned, rehearsed, and successfully conducted this operation. Thanks to them, Ms. Helen Johnston, Ms. Moragwe Oirere, and their two co-workers will soon be rejoining their families and loved ones.”
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US drones kill 'good' Taliban commander in South Wazirstan

Map showing location of North and South Waziri...
Map showing location of North and South Waziristan in northern Pakistan and bordering on Afghanistan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The US killed a commander loyal to 'good' Taliban leader Mullah Nazir in a drone strike in South Waziristan. Today's strike is the first in South Waziristan since mid-March.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired missiles at a vehicle and a motorcycle in a village near Wana. Dawn reported that the strike took place in the village of Doog and killed two Taliban fighters, while Geo News said the strike occurred in Khawashi Khel and killed four fighters.

According to Dawn, Rahmanullah, "a key commander of the Mullah Nazir group and a brother of commander Malang of the same group," was killed in the strike. Nazir administers the Wana area and supports and shelters al Qaeda leaders and operatives.

Today's strike is the first in South Waziristan since mid-March. The last eight strikes have taken place in Taliban-controlled North Waziristan.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/06/us_drones_kill_good.php#ixzz1wjGFeZJh
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