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[casi] U.S.,British Jets Attack Targets-Iraq (again)




U.S., British Jets Attack Targets in South: Iraq

Reuters
Friday, August 30, 2002; 1:46 PM

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said U.S. and British jets bombed targets in
southern Iraq on Thursday and Friday, but reported no casualties.

The U.S. military said earlier that its warplanes attacked an anti-aircraft
missile site in a "no-fly" zone of southern Iraq on Friday in response to
repeated Iraqi attempts to shoot down American and British jets patrolling
the zone.

The latest such attack, among hundreds in no-fly zones in northern and
southern Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War, was carried out against a
surface-to-air (SAM) missile site near An Kut some 150 miles southeast of
Baghdad at about 10:30 a.m. Iraq time, the military's Central Command said.

Iraq said there had been attacks on Thursday at 11:35 p.m. and on Friday
8:10 a.m. local time 0410. "At 2335 p.m. local time yesterday, hostile
planes violated our airspaces, carrying out eight sorties using air bases in
Kuwait," the Iraqi military spokesman said in a statement carried by the
official Iraqi News Agency (INA).

"The enemy attacked civilian and service installations in Wassit province,"
the spokesman said.

The spokesman added that Western coalition planes struck targets in Wassit
province, located 172 km (107 miles) southeast of Baghdad, again on Thursday
morning.

"Hostile planes targeted civilian and service installations in Wassit
province at 0810 a.m. local time today for the second time," he said.

Iraq's ground air-defenses fired at the planes.

U.S. and British aircraft police no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq
set up after the Gulf War.

Iraq does not recognize the zones. It was the eighth raid by U.S. jets
against air defense targets in these areas in less than two weeks.

The exchanges have increased sharply in recent months as speculation has
grown that President Bush will order the U.S. military to invade Iraq and to
remove President Saddam Hussein from power. Iraq has the second largest oil
reserves in the world behind Saudi Arabia.

Baghdad denies accusations from Washington that Saddam is pressing ahead to
develop weapons of mass destruction.

The Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Gulf and
Middle East, said in a release from its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, that
all of the warplanes left the target area successfully and damage to the
missile site was still being assessed.

© 2002 Reuters

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16537-2002Aug30.html


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