¡¡ Three Iraqi civilians were injured Saturday in U.S. and British warplane attacks on northern Iraq.

¡¡ An Iraqi military spokesman said U.S. and British jets bombarded some civilian and service facilities in northern Iraq, and were forced to flee back to Turkey by Iraqi anti-aircraft units.

¡¡ He said that since 1998 U.S. and British warplanes have made nearly 19,000 sorties over the two no-fly zones in Iraq.

¡¡ The no-fly zones were imposed on Iraq by the U.S.-led western allies following the 1991 Gulf War, but Iraq has never recognized these zones, saying they are not authorized by the UN Security Council.

¡¡ Also on Saturday, the Iraqi Trade Ministry announced that the United States and Britain had recently put on hold 41 contracts Iraq concluded under phase six of the oil-for-food program. ÿ ÿ