Posted on 06/19/2002 7:52:16 PM PDT by Bad~Rodeo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and British warplanes were targeted by anti-aircraft guns in a northern "no-fly" zone of Iraq on Wednesday and struck air defense targets in response, the U.S. military said. Iraq said the planes attacked civilian targets in the north and wounded one civilian.
A statement released by the U.S. European Command in Germany said all of the aircraft left the area safely after using precision-guided bombs in the latest of a long series of tit-for-tat exchanges since the 1991 Gulf War.
The command said Iraqi anti-aircraft guns in the vicinity of Saddam Dam fired at warplanes policing the no-fly zone and that the aircraft struck Iraq's integrated air defense system. It gave no further details.
"At 14:05 today American and British planes carried out 10 sorties from bases in Turkey, flying over Aqra, Duhouk, Zakho, Amadiya, Rawandiz, Dokan, Ain Zala, Arbeil and Mosul," an Iraqi military spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency.
"The planes attacked our civilian and service installations in Nineveh province, wounding one citizen ... and the planes left for their military bases in Turkey," the spokesman said.
U.S. and British aircraft police two "no-fly" zones in northern and southern Iraq, set up in 1991 to protect the areas' Kurdish and Shi'ite populations from what the allies described as military threats from Baghdad.
Baghdad last reported firing by U.S. and British aircraft on the north of the country on May 28, when it said five people were wounded.
Such exchanges have become more frequent in recent months amid speculation that the United States might be preparing to invade Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein, accused by Washington of developing weapons of mass destruction and sponsoring terrorism.
British Defense Minister Geoff Hoon said in Brussels last week that Iraq, which does not recognize the no-fly zones, had become more aggressive in threatening U.S. and British jets. He also stressed after talks with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that he was specifically referring to action related to the no-fly zones and not to any broader attack.
Wanted: Air Defense radar operators. No experience necessary. Will train. Great benefits package.
ROTFLMAO! Never heard that before. I Love it!
"I told you we should have surrendered, Achmed!"
"For the the last time, Hassan, shut up and keep digging!"
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