Adam
08-05-02, 12:02 PM
Iraqi air defences struck
August 05, 2002
WASHINGTON: Warplanes from a US-British coalition bombed an air defence command and control facility in southern Iraq in retaliation for "hostile" Iraqi acts, the US military said.
The US Central Command said it was still assessing the damage done by the air strike, which was launched about 0600 GMT (1600 AEST).
"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 today to strike an air defence command and control facility at a military site in southern Iraq," the command said in a statement from its Tampa, Florida headquarters.
US and British warplanes enforce no-fly zones imposed over sections of northern and southern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War to prevent Iraq from attacking its neighbours or using air power against its Kurdish and Shi'ite minorities.
US warplanes have routinely struck Iraqi air defence sites in the north and the south since December 1998 when Iraq began putting up resistance to the air patrols.
Iraqi air defences have fired surface to air missiles or anti-aircraft guns at coalition aircraft on 70 occasions this year alone, the command said.
Agence France-Presse
Source. (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,4847604%255E401,00.html)
August 05, 2002
WASHINGTON: Warplanes from a US-British coalition bombed an air defence command and control facility in southern Iraq in retaliation for "hostile" Iraqi acts, the US military said.
The US Central Command said it was still assessing the damage done by the air strike, which was launched about 0600 GMT (1600 AEST).
"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 today to strike an air defence command and control facility at a military site in southern Iraq," the command said in a statement from its Tampa, Florida headquarters.
US and British warplanes enforce no-fly zones imposed over sections of northern and southern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War to prevent Iraq from attacking its neighbours or using air power against its Kurdish and Shi'ite minorities.
US warplanes have routinely struck Iraqi air defence sites in the north and the south since December 1998 when Iraq began putting up resistance to the air patrols.
Iraqi air defences have fired surface to air missiles or anti-aircraft guns at coalition aircraft on 70 occasions this year alone, the command said.
Agence France-Presse
Source. (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,4847604%255E401,00.html)