An civilian was killed and six were wounded in an US-British air strike in southern Iraq, a military spokesman claimed in Baghdad today.
The spokesman said US and British warplanes bombed "civilian and service installations" in Najaf province 100 miles southwest of the capital last night.
"This criminal act has led to the killing of one person and the injuring of six others," the spokesman said, adding that Iraq's "courageous ground resistance" forced the planes to leave Iraqi airspace.
The agency said top officials of Iraq's ruling Baath party attended the funeral of the man killed in the raid, Mr Abas Najim Dehash. Angry mourners denounced the attack as another "evil US-British aggression."
In Washington, a senior general said coalition planes patrolling Iraqi no fly zones bombed sites twice over the weekend in response to Iraqi attacks.
"After September 11th, the firings in the no fly zones subsided slightly, but they're back up to the normal levels," said Air Force Brigadier General John Rosa, deputy director for operation at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
A regime change in Baghdad is a stated policy of the Bush administration. Iraqi opposition leaders have been meeting in London to discuss their role in any bid to oust Iraqi President Saddam.
US and RAF warplanes monitoring no fly zones over southern and northern Iraq regularly attack Iraqi military facilities.
The zones were established shortly after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurdish and Shiite Muslim groups. Iraq frequently tries to shoot down allied planes as it considers the zones violations of Iraqi sovereignty.
AP