U.S. warship named after ‘Fallujah’
U.S. forces stationed in Fallujah, Iraq. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) revealed that the U.S. Navy’s newest amphibious assault ship will be named after the city of ‘Fallujah’ where some of the bloodiest battles of the war in Iraq occurred, after fierce fighting took place between the U.S. Marines and members belonging to Al Qaeda.
Secretary of the Navy, Carlos del Toro, said that the warship ‘USS Fallujah’ will commemorate what is known as ‘the first and second battles of Fallujah,’ according to the tradition of naming warships after the battles of the Marines.
“It is an honor to commemorate the Marines, soldiers, and coalition partners who fought so valiantly and those who gave their lives during the battles of Fallujah,” del Toro said in a statement on Tuesday, according to the AP.
Fallujah is located 65 kilometers west of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and became a base for the anti-government insurgency after the US-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Al-Qaeda militants fought two bloody battles against the American forces in Fallujah in 2004, where more than one hundred Americans were killed and more than one thousand were wounded.
The first battle of Fallujah began because of the increasing violence in the city where five American soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb, and four security contractors working for the American company, Blackwater, were killed before their bodies were burned, and two of the bodies were hung on a bridge in Fallujah.
In response, the Marines fought for days to take control of the city, but at a turning point, a Marine vehicle was hit by a rocket, wounding five soldiers. The Marines bombed the city later using fighter jets where dozens were killed in the bombardment, but within a month later, the U.S. forces withdrew from Fallujah, handing control over to local Iraqi security forces.
The second battle of Fallujah took place in November 2004 after the U.S. forces, along with British and Iraqi forces, launched an intense air and ground attack to control the city. Dozens of the U.S. forces and hundreds of the militants were killed during the battle, and large parts of the city were destroyed.