Baghdad - Iraq said its confrontation with the United States and Britain over no-fly zones imposed after the Gulf War had escalated after reporting that warplanes had attacked the outskirts of Baghdad, killing and wounding a number of civilians.
The attacks triggered air raid sirens and anti-aircraft fire in Baghdad, but US defence officials denied charges by the Iraqi military that a civilian site in Baghdad was attacked.
President Clinton said US warplanes had again struck air defence targets in southern Iraq yesterday adding that his administration would not be intimidated by Iraqi attempts to shoot down western fighter jets.
In Baghdad, the director general of the Iraqi News Agency, Mr Uday al-Ta'ie, referring to the latest attacks, said last night: "We declare today that this act is considered a new escalation and flagrant aggression."
Journalists were not given the name of the place where Iraq said the warplanes attacked.