An Iraqi military spokesman claimed today that US and British warplanes had earlier bombed civilian targets in southern Iraq.
The spokesman said, quoted by the official INA news agency, said the aircraft "bombed civilian and service installations" in the provinces of Zi Qar, 375 kilometers south of Baghdad, and Missan, 365 kilometers south of the capital.
"Iraqi missile batteries and ground defenses opened up on the planes, forcing them to flee to their bases in Kuwait," he said.
US and British forces have recently stepped up air attacks in "no-fly" zones which they have enforced in northern and southern Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War as they prepare for possible war against Baghdad.
Iraq does not recognize the zones, which are not sanctioned by any UN resolution, and regularly accuses coalition warplanes of targeting civilian installations, a charge denied by the United States and Britain.
AFP