14 Iraqis Killed in U.S., British Air Raids

14 Iraqis Killed in U.S., British Air Raids

Fourteen Iraqi civilians were killed and 19 others injured in U.S. and British air raids on Thursday, which represents one of the heaviest casualties Iraq has suffered since December 1998.

At 0855 local time (0555 GMT) and 1455 local time (1155 GMT), 18 formations of U.S. and British warplanes made 48 armed sorties from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, flying over the southern provinces of Basra, Thi-Qar, Misan, Muthana, Qadissiyah, Wasit and Najaf, announced an Iraqi military spokesman.

The enemy planes bombed civilian and service facilities, leaving 14 innocent people dead and 19 others wounded, said the spokesman. This is one of the heaviest casualties Iraq has suffered from U.S. and British bombings since the two countries launched the Operation Desert Fox air strikes against Iraq in December 1998. Iraqi air defense artillery fired at these planes and forced them to flee back to their bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, said the spokesman.

He added that at 1025 local time (0725 GMT), 10 formations of U.S. and British warplanes made 22 armed sorties from Turkey, flying over the three northern provinces.

A total of 20,200 armed sorties have been made by U.S. and British planes over the two no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq since December 1998, said the spokesman.

Iraq has claimed that the continuous air raids have killed over 170 civilians and wounded more than 1,000 other people. The no-fly zones were imposed on Iraq by the U.S.-led Western allies following the 1991 Gulf War, with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in the north and the Shiite Muslims in the south from possible persecution from the Iraqi government. Baghdad has never recognized the no-fly zones, which were not directly covered by any U.N. Security Council resolution.