From http://abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-20jul2002-5.htm
Five killed in US-UK attack on Iraqi: Iraqi officials
Iraqi officials say five Iraqis were killed, including an
infant and two women, and 17 wounded when US and British warplanes bombed
southern
"Five citizens were killed and 17 injured when enemy
[US and British] warplanes bombed civilian and services installations in Al-Diwaniya," a military spokesman said.
The spokesman says the attack on Al-Diwaniya,
170 kilometres south of Baghdad, occurred at at
11:15pm local time Thursday.
He says the warplanes, which "flew in from Kuwaiti
airspace, backed by an AWACS plane that flew in from Saudi airspace",
staged "armed sorties" over 11 other localities in southern Iraq
before being "forced to flee back to their bases" by Iraqi
anti-aircraft artillery and missile fire.
The INA news agency reports both US and British aircraft
took part in "this new crime", which killed a 62-year-old man, Hamza Ghafel, and four members of
one family, including a one-and-a-half-year-old girl.
State television broadcast scenes from Al-Diwaniya, showing what it says are missile impacts near
homes, one of which was completely destroyed, and a
car with its shattered windows.
It also ran footage of a funeral procession with five
coffins draped with the Iraqi flag and mounted on cars winding its way through
town followed by a large crowd, which included local officials.
There is no immediate word from the US military on the
incident.
Almost daily skirmishes are reported in
"no-fly" zones enforced by US and British warplanes over northern and
southern Iraq since the end of the 1991 Gulf War.
© 2002 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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