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2 Iraqis Killed, 1 Injured in U.S., British Air Raids
Two Iraqi civilians were killed and another one injured in the United States and British warplanes' attacks in southern Iraq on Sunday, an Iraqi military spokesman said.
The spokesman said that at 8:55 (0555 GMT) and 15:30 (1230 GMT), U.S. and British warplanes made a total of 50 sorties, 32 from base in Saudi Arabia and 18 from Kuwait, over the southern provinces of Basra, Misan, Thi-Qar, Qadissiyah, Wasit, Muthana and Najaf.
The enemy planes bombed civilian installations, killing two and injuring one in the Basra Province, said the spokesman.
Iraq's air-defense artillery confronted with the enemy planes and forced them to flee back to their bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, he said.
Since the U.S. and Britain launched the air strikes against Iraq in December 1998, as many as 316 Iraqis have been killed and 936 others injured in the U.S. and British air raids over the southern and northern no-fly zones, the spokesman said.
The no-fly zones were imposed on Iraq by the U.S.-led Western allies in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in the north and the Shiite Muslims in the south from possible attacks by Iraqi government troops.
Iraq has never recognized the two air exclusion zones for lack of clear United Nations authorization.
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