US and British War
Planes Respond to Iraqi Aggression
January
6, 2003
Saturday,
in response to Iraqi hostile acts against US and British aircraft
monitoring compliance of United Nations Security Council Resolutions
over Southern Iraq, Operation Southern Watch Coalition aircraft
used precision-guided weapons today to target three Iraqi military
air defense cable repeater sites. The Coalition struck the sites
at approximately 2:15 p.m. EST. The repeaters were located near
An Nasiriyah, which is approximately 170 miles southeast of Baghdad.
Target battle damage assessment is ongoing.
Coalition strikes in the no-fly zones are executed as a self-defense
measure in response to Iraqi hostile threats and acts against
Coalition forces and their aircraft. The Coalition targeted the
communications sites after Iraqi air defense forces fired multiple
anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles at Coalition
aircraft patrolling the Southern No-Fly Zone.
The last Operation Southern Watch strike was Thursday when Coalition
aircraft used precision-guided weapons to target Iraqi military
air defense cable repeaters southeast of Al Kut, after Iraqi air
defense forces fired anti-aircraft artillery at Coalition aircraft.
Coalition aircraft never target civilian populations or infrastructure
and go to painstaking lengths to avoid injury to civilians and
damage to civilian facilities.