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25 Afghans and One American Soldier Killed in Attacks, July 7-15, 2019

July 14, 2019

 

U.S. troops boarding a Chinook helicopter in the southern province of Kandahar, file.	Site of Taliban attack in Ghazne, on July 7, 2019

 

Taliban Attacks Hotel In Northwestern Afghanistan, Killing At Least Three

RFE/RL, July 13, 2019

Taliban militants have attacked a hotel in northwestern Afghanistan, killing at least three police officers.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said at least three suicide bombers stormed a hotel in Qal-e Naw, the provincial capital of Badghis Province, around 12:30 p.m. on July 13.

He said the attackers opened fire at guests inside the hotel.

Rahimi said two of the attackers were killed in ongoing clashes with security forces.

Badghis Governor Abdul Ghafoor Malakzai gave a conflicting account, telling RFE/RL that there were four attackers. He said one had been killed, one captured, and two others were still holed up in the hotel.

Malakzai said besides the three dead police officers, two others were injured.

But Abdul Latif Rustahi, the head of the Badghis State Hospital, told RFE/RL that 16 people had been admitted to hospital, including 10 members of the security forces and six civilians, including a woman and two children.

Eyewitnesses told RFE/RL that the area was cordoned off by security forces.

Taliban spokesman Mohammad Yusef Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the incident and said suicide bombers had stormed the hotel.

With reporting by Tolo News and AFP

U.S. Service Member Killed In Afghanistan

RFE/RL, July 13, 2019

The NATO-led Resolute Support mission said a U.S. service member was killed in Afghanistan on July 13.

A statement by did not provide any details surrounding the circumstances of the soldier’s death.

The statement also said the identity of the soldier would not be released until the family had been notified.

It brings the tally of U.S. service member deaths in Afghanistan to at least seven this year.

The U.S. military said two of its service members were killed in Afghanistan on June 26.

The United States began a fresh push last September to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table to end the nearly 18-year Afghan conflict -- the longest war in U.S. history.

The U.S. peace envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has held eight rounds of peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar.

He described the latest round that ended on July 9 as the "most productive" ever.

U.S. military identifies soldier killed in Afghanistan

July 15, 2019, (Reuters) -

A U.S. Army soldier killed in Afghanistan was identified on Sunday as decorated special forces company Sergeant Major James G. “Ryan” Sartor of Teague, Texas, the Department of Defense (DOD) said in a release.

Sartor, 40, died Saturday from wounds from enemy small arms fire in a combat operation in the province of Faryab, in northern Afghanistan, the DOD said.

Additional details about his death were not immediately available. Sartor was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Carson, Colorado, the DOD said. Sartor joined the Army in 2001 and was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division as an Infantryman, the Army Times reported.

He later completed special forces training and was deployed numerous times to Iraq and Afghanistan, starting in 2002, the publication said. He also became a Green Beret, media reported. Sartor’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Valorous Unit Award, among others, media reported. He will be posthumously awarded the Purple Heart medal.

Suicide Bomber Kills at Least Nine People at Afghan Wedding Party

RFE 12 Jul 2019, 22:15 GMT+10

Source: RFE/RL

Afghan officials say at least nine people have been killed, including a pro-government militia commander, after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a wedding party in the country's east.

Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar Province, said on July 12 that the bomber, a young boy, set off his explosives inside the house of militia commander Malek Tor, who was killed in the attack in Pacheragam district.

Tor had led a group fighting against the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

Khogyani said the dead included Tor's two sons, a child, and five other civilians.

Khogyani said 12 people were wounded and rushed to hospital.

Hazrat Khan Khaksar, the Pacheragam district governor, put the death toll at 14 killed and 14 wounded.

No group has claimed responsibility for the wedding-party attack, although both the Taliban and IS militants are active in Nangarhar Province.

The province is a stronghold of IS militants, who are active on Afghanistan's porous eastern border with Pakistan.

The group has carried out a string of suicide bombings and attacks on government offices, schools, and aid groups in recent years in Nangarhar.

The U.S. military estimates that there are about 2,000 IS militants in Afghanistan.

The hard-line Sunni group has targeted minority Shi'ite civilians and government security forces in deadly attacks since it emerged around 2015.

With reporting by Reuters.

At Least 12 Dead In Afghan Suicide Bombing Claimed By Taliban

July 07, 2019, RFE/RL

The attack in Ghazni targeted an office of the National Directorate of Security, but many of the victims were students attending a nearby school. Share

Afghan officials say at least 12 people have been killed and 179 others wounded in a suicide car-bombing in a crowded area in the city of Ghazni.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the July 7 attack that comes as representatives of the militant group are taking part in a two-day all-Afghan peace conference in Doha.

The attack in Ghazni targeted an office of the National Directorate of Security, but many of the victims were students attending a nearby school, said Hasan Raza Yousafi, a provincial council member.

Afghan Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar told RFE/RL that 13 people who were in critical condition had been transferred to hospitals in the capital, Kabul.

It’s the second attack in Ghazni in two days.

At least two people were killed and some 20 others were wounded in a bomb blast inside the Mohammadiya mosque in Ghazni’s Khak-e-Ghariban area on July 6.

With reporting by AP, Tolonews.com, and Reuters. 

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