Iraqi Air Defense Forces Defies US-British Warplanes:SpokesmanIraqi air defense and missile forces Wednesday repulsed US and British warplanes that tried to attack northern Iraq from the Turkish territories, said an Iraqi military spokesman."The US and British jets broke the sound barrier in northern Iraq at 10:35 a.m. (0635 GMT) Wednesday and launched 20 sorties from the Turkish territories with direct support from the Turkish air force," the Air Defence Command spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA). "The U.S. and British warplanes flew over the provinces of Dohuk and Neineva but the Iraqi ground defense and missile forces defied the hostile planes and drove them away," he said. The U.S. and British planes have made 32,702 sorties from Saudi, Kuwaiti and Turkish territories since December 1998, he added. Also on Wednesday, the U.S. and British planes committed another crime against the Iraqi people when they bombed a football court in Tal-Afar in the northern province of Neineva, killing 23 people and injuring 11 others, according to the INA. On Tuesday, an Iraqi military spokesman said the U.S. and British warplanes tried to attack a civilian facility but the Iraqi air defense forces repulsed them and hit one of them. |
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