U.S., British jets hit artillery site in Iraq’s southern no-fly zone

Associated Press

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — U.S. and British aircraft fired on an anti-aircraft artillery site in Iraq’s southern no-fly zone Tuesday, a U.S. military official said.

An Iraqi military spokesman confirmed the attack, accusing the allied aircraft of bombing "civilian and service installations."

All U.S. and British aircraft returned safely to base after the strike at Al-Hallah, 260 miles southeast of Baghdad, said Chief Petty Officer David Nagle, a spokesman for the U.S.-British Joint Task Force Southwest Asia, which is responsible for patrolling the southern no-fly zone.

Nagle said the strikes were provoked by Iraqi threats but did not specify their nature. Iraqi sites have fired on or otherwise threatened U.S.-British aircraft at least 400 times this year, according to the United States and Britain.

In Baghdad, the unidentified Iraqi spokesman did not mention casualties nor did he specify the type of buildings hit. He said the attack took place in "the province of Basra." Basra city is 350 miles south of Iraq’s capital.

U.S. and British aircraft patrol southern and northern no-fly zones to prevent Iraqi forces from attacking Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south and to provide early warning of any Iraqi troop movements toward Kuwait.

Iraq considers the no-fly zones illegal and has vowed to shoot down any coalition planes. The zones were established after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.