From: James Tait <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> BBC: Air Strike "Killed Iraqi Civilians" Air strike 'killed Iraqi civilians' US planes hit Iraq from bases in the Gulf and Turkey Baghdad says the latest US air strikes in southern Iraq have killed two civilians in a remote village, far from any defence installation. The official Iraqi News Agency (INA) said two men, Dheif Ali and Idan Kadhem, died and houses were destroyed in the village of al-Ahrar when the planes struck at 2230 local time (1830 GMT) on Tuesday. The Pentagon had earlier reported mounting the strikes which, it said, were aimed at military installations. They came shortly after an unmanned US spy plane was lost over the region - shot down, Iraq said, by its air defence teams. Conflicting accounts US reports say the planes attacked two military targets which provided command, control and communications support for Iraqi air defences. US Predator drones are often used for missions in the region INA, however, said al-Ahrar, some 375 kilometres (235 miles) south of Baghdad, was "a remote village far from any military position". The attack came after a US Predator reconnaissance drone crashed over southern Iraq on Monday. Iraq reported shooting down the plane and showed film of its wreckage, while the Pentagon suggested engine failure may have caused the loss of the $3.3m aircraft. US and British planes have recently stepped up attacks in the "no-fly zone" in southern Iraq, saying that Baghdad has boosted its air defences there. Tuesday's reported deaths bring Iraq's official casualty toll from Western air strikes to 356 dead and more than 1,000 injured since December 1998. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
