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.