US Fighters Bomb Air Defense Position in Southern Iraq - 2002-09-06

US military officials say that US fighters bombed an Iraqi air defense position in the south of the country on Thursday. The US Central Command states that the fighters targeted the command and control facilities of an Iraqi airbase located approximately 380 kilometers south of Baghdad. According to the US Central Command, this airstrike was in response to recent hostile actions by Iraq against allied aircraft monitoring the no-fly zone in southern Iraq. Iraq claims that the aircraft bombed civilian facilities located in Anbar province. Reports released do not mention any potential casualties from this attack. Thursday's airstrike was the first US aircraft attack on an Iraqi air defense position in September. In August, a total of eight similar airstrikes were conducted against Iraq, matching the total number of attacks from two months prior. This reflects the total number of attacks carried out during the two months before August. US military officials have denied accusations that allied aircraft have increased their military activities against Iraq in anticipation of US military operations against Saddam Hussein. US and British warplanes have been enforcing no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq since shortly after the end of the Gulf War in 1991 to protect the Kurdish minority in northern Iraq and the Shiite minority in southern Iraq from attacks by Baghdad's forces.