US and British warplanes bombed an alleged air defence system in northern Iraq today after Iraqi forces were claimed to have fired at the jets patrolling the "no-fly" zone in the north of the country.
U.S. military sources said all aircraft returned safely to their base at Incirlik in Turkey.
The strikes were to the northeast of the Iraqi government controlled town of Mosul.
The number of incidents involving the patrols over no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq has risen sharply in recent months as speculation grows that the United States could launch an attack to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Iraq does not recognise the no-fly zones and often accuses the jets of causing civilian casualties. The zones were set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect a Kurdish enclave in the north and Shi'ite Muslims in the south from attack by Saddam's military.