U.S., British Planes Drop Incendiary Bombs on Iraqi FarmsThe U.S. and British warplanes Thursday dropped incendiary bombs on farms in northern Iraq, a military spokesman announced.The spokesman said that at 1015 local time (0615 GMT), nine formations of U.S. and British warplanes from the airspace of Turkey carried out 18 armed sorties over northern Iraqi provinces of Dohuk, Neiveva and Erbil, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported. The attacks came amid Iraq's upcoming harvest season, aiming to inflict more damage on the country's economy, the spokesman said. The spokesman affirmed Iraqi air defenses fired at the invading planes, forcing them to flee to their bases in Turkey. According to the spokesman, Thursday's attacks brought to 21,521 the total number of armed sorties from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait since December 1998, when the U.S. and Britain launched the four-night air strikes codenamed Operation Desert Fox air against Iraq. The U.S. and British planes have been patrolling the two no-fly zones in the north and south of Iraq, set up after the 1991 Gulf War. Iraq does not recognize the zones, which are not covered by any U.N. resolution. |
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