Sunday March 14 8:05 AM ET
U.S. Jets Bomb Iraqi Artillery In North
ANKARA, Turkey (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes bombed Iraqi air defenses in the
no-fly zone over northern Iraq Sunday,
said a spokesman at the base in southern Turkey from which the jets
operate.
He told Reuters the planes dropped an unspecified number of bombs after
``aircraft observed Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery
fire and detected Iraqi radar posing a threat to coalition aircraft.''
Such strikes have been common since Iraq decided in December actively to
oppose U.S. and British jets patrolling the
no-fly zones in the north and south of the country.
The jets flying out of the Incirlik airbase patrol a mountainous
Kurdish-held enclave and a swath of Baghdad-controlled
territory around the city of Mosul.
``F-15E Strike Eagles dropped GBU-12 laser-guided bombs on several
anti-aircraft artillery sites northwest and west of
Mosul,'' the spokesman said.
Friday jets from Incirlik also bombed anti-aircraft artillery sites after
detecting Iraq radar tracking the aircraft.
Iraq does not recognize the Western-enforced zones set up after the 1991
Gulf War to protect the Kurdish area in the north
and Shi'ite Muslims in the south.
NATO-member Turkey hosts the force, known as ``Operation Northern Watch,''
but has expressed concern in recent
months over the policy of close ally the United States toward Turkey's
southern neighbor Iraq.
Earlier Stories
U.S. Jets Strike Iraqi Sites In North No-Fly Zone (March 14)
U.S. Jets Bomb Iraqi Targets In North No-Fly Zone (March 12)
U.S. Jets Fire At Iraqi Target In North No-Fly Zone (March 12)
Qatar Opposes Strikes On Iraq, Hits Go On (March 9)
U.S. Jets Bomb North Iraqi Artillery Sites (March 9)
