February 22, 1999
Web posted at: 7:40 a.m. EST (1240 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. warplanes on Monday attacked Iraqi ground positions after the aircraft patrolling the northern no-fly zone were fired on, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. European Command said that a flight of U.S. F-15s dropped 11 precision-guided bombs on Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery and radar sites near the northern city of Mosul.

There was no damage to U.S. or British aircraft, which returned safely to the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, a military statement said.

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Monday's airstrikes bring the number of targets attacked since the end of Operation Desert Fox last December -- a military air campaign against Iraq that lasted four days -- to approximately 85.

The attacks on 23 days since that air campaign have been largely limited to Iraqi air defenses, and many of the targets were much smaller than those attacked during Desert Fox.

Pentagon officials say the damage inflicted since the Desert Fox strikes is significant but much less severe than during the bombings and cruise missiles attacks in December.

The no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq were set up by the United States, Britain and France after the 1991 Gulf War to deter the Iraqi air force from attacking rebels in the north and the south. Iraq does not recognize the zones and has vowed to fire at any plane that violates its airspace.

Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre and Reuters contributed to this report.

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