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COALITION FORCES STRIKE IRAQI COMMUNICATION FACILITIES

July 23, 2002 Release 02-07-06

MACDILL AFB, FL - In response to recent Iraqi hostile acts against Coalition aircraft monitoring the Southern No-Fly Zone, Operation SOUTHERN WATCH Coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons yesterday to strike a military cable repeater station and communications facilities at a radar site in southern Iraq at approximately 10:00 p.m. EDT.

Target battle damage assessment is ongoing.

Coalition strikes in the No-Fly Zones are executed as a self-defense measure in response to Iraqi hostile threats and acts against Coalition forces and their aircraft. The last Coalition strike in the Southern No-Fly Zone was against a military cable repeater station on July 18, 2002.

This calendar year there have been more than 65 separate incidents of Iraqi surface-to-air missile attacks and anti-aircraft artillery fire directed against Coalition aircraft. Coalition aircraft never target civilian populations or infrastructure and go to painstaking lengths to avoid injury to civilians and damage to civilian facilities.