U.S. Warplanes Strike Iraq Facility
Fri July 19, 2:01 PM ET
By WAIEL FALEH, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. and British warplanes destroyed a military communications facility in southern Iraq, the U.S. military said Friday. Iraq said the missile strike killed five people, including a couple and their children.
The Iraqi claim could not be independently verified.
The planes, patrolling the no-fly zone over southern Iraq, used precision-guided weapons to destroy the military site Thursday, U.S. Central Command said in a statement. The strikes came in response to continued Iraqi hostile actions toward coalition airplanes, it said.
Air Force Brig. Gen. John W. Rosa Jr. said Monday that Iraq had increased its challenges to coalition aircraft in the northern and southern no-fly zones. The two zones were created after the 1991 Gulf War ( news - web sites) to protect Kurds and minority Shiite Muslims from Iraqi military forces.
The Iraqi military said the coalition planes bombed "civilian and service installations" in Qadissiya province, 155 miles south of Baghdad, on Thursday night.
The attack hit two nearby homes, destroying one and damaging the other, killing five people and injuring 17 others, the military said in a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency.
Among the dead were a husband, wife and their two children, the agency said. A 60-year-old man who was also killed was thought to be a relative.
U.S. military officials say they take great care to avoid civilians when making retaliatory strikes in Iraq.
Funerals for the air raid victims were held Friday in Diwaniya, the capital of Qadissiya province, the agency said. Government officials and members of Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites)'s ruling Baath Party attended. Mourners shouted "Down with Bush" and "Down with America," while others demanded Saddam extract revenge.
Iraq has never recognized the no-fly zones and frequently tries to shoot down planes patrolling them.