RELATED DISCUSSION Situation in Iraq

INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey (CNN) -- U.S. warplanes fired on an Iraqi missile site Friday after being targeted by Iraq radar in the northern no-fly zone, a U.S. military official said.

Two U.S. Air Force F-16s fired missiles at an Iraqi site near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul Friday morning, said Maj. Toni Kemper of the U.S. European Command in Stuttgart.

There was no damage to the aircraft, and the damage to Iraq has not been assessed yet.

Since after the 1991 Gulf War, allied warplanes have barred Iraqi military flights over northern and southern Iraq to protect Kurdish rebel and Shiite Muslim groups. Planes enforcing the northern no-fly zone are stationed in the southern Turkish base of Incirlik.

Iraq has challenged allied forces in the no-fly zones almost daily since December and has threatened to attack Turkey, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia if the flights continue.

Gen. Hal Hornburg, the commander of U.S. air operations over Iraq said Thursday that Iraqi did not have the ability to attack Turkey, but could attack bases in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait.

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Earlier Thursday, Iraq said it had forced Western warplanes to turn back Thursday after they attacked an air defense system in the northern no-fly zone. The United States denied that any attack had occurred.

"In an aborted attempt on the will and endurance of our people, the killers did their cowardly act again and violated our national airspace," the Iraqi News Agency quoted a military statement as saying.

"Ten hostile formations violated our airspace from the northern region coming from Turkish airspace at 11:05 a.m. They involved F-14s, F-15s and F-16s supported by early warning systems from inside Turkish airspace and implemented 21 sorties over regions in Ninevah and Dohuk.

"The crows attacked one of our brave air defense units, which challenged them with different weapons and compelled them to flee ... returning to the dens of evil," it said.

"No such attack occurred," Pentagon spokesman Capt. Mike Doubleday said in Washington. "We had no incidents in operation Northern Watch today. There were some flights, but as I understand it, the weather up there was bad."

On Monday, U.S. military jets struck in Iraq's southern no-fly zone, intended to protect Shiite Muslims, and attacked air defenses in northern Iraq.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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