U.S., British jets attack Iraqi military sites

February 21, 1999
Web posted at: 9:43 p.m. EST (0243 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. and British aircraft attacked an Iraqi missile site and two military communications sites Sunday after Iraqi jets violated the southern no-fly zone, according to U.S. military officials.

The strikes were conducted near Al Amarah and Tallil, about 170 miles (273 km) southeast of Baghdad, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command. All planes returned safely to their bases and there was no immediate word on damage or casualties.

"At approximately 8:40 a.m. EST (1340 GMT) today, coalition aircraft enforcing the southern no-fly zone in Iraq struck military targets in response to Iraqi provocations," the statement said.

U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet, F-14 Tomcat and Royal Air Force GR-1 aircraft conducted the missions, using precision-guided weapons to strike an Iraqi surface-to-air missile site and two military communication sites, it said.

Iraq has increased "both the pace and severity" of no-fly zone violations since the end of Operation Desert Fox in December when U.S. and British planes launched a four-day intensive bombing campaign in Iraq, the statement said.

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Hussein offers bounty to down allied planes

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein reportedly has offered a reward to anyone who manages to shoot down an allied plane in the exclusion zones, which he views as illegal.

Earlier Sunday, a military statement reported by the official Iraqi News Agency said Iraqi ground forces had hit a Western plane violating Baghdad's airspace in the south. It did not indicate any casualties, nor did it say if the plane was shot down.

The United States and Britain denied any planes were lost. All U.S. flights in the restricted southern area returned safely to their bases, said Pentagon spokesman Mike Byers.

"The report is false. All of the morning flights (over the southern zone) were uneventful," said Byers.

Britain also said that none of its combat aircraft had been hit by Iraqi fire. Iraq has made several claims in the past about shooting down Western planes, but none has proved correct.

The no-fly zones were set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect rebel Shiite Muslim groups in the south and Kurdish guerrillas in the north from Iraqi government forces. The Western planes patrolling the two zones are based in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the south and Turkey in the north.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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