23 July 2004
Central Command Report, July 23: Middle East Update
Zarqawi network targeted in Iraq
Coalition forces in Iraq launched their eighth military operation against elements of the al-Zarqawi terrorist network in Fallujah, Iraq, on July 23.
The military operation, which was fully coordinated with the new Interim Iraqi Government, targeted around a dozen insurgents located in a courtyard of a house in southwest Fallujah.
A July 23 press release issued by the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strike, using precision munitions, left the house in tact.
U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Erv Lessel, deputy director for Multi-National Forces in Iraq, said military operations have been conducted throughout July to erode Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's "base of support and ability to carry out terror attacks against security forces and the people of Iraq."
CENTCOM also announced the continued loss of lives of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. More than 900 U.S. service personnel have been killed in Iraq; the latest two were killed near Samarra when a roadside bomb exploded killing the soldiers in a military convoy.
The U.S. Navy also reported through CENTCOM that the USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier collided with a small shipping vessel in the Persian Gulf on July 22. The small dhow sank as a result of the collision.
Air and sea rescue efforts were launched immediately, but no survivors were rescued at the scene of the accident.
Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the collision.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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