Incirlik - US warplanes flying from a base in southern Turkey attacked an Iraqi anti-aircraft battery in northern Iraq yesterday, the US air force said.
The incident came shortly after the base, at Incirlik, was put on a state of alert on fears of a missile attack from Iraq. Allied sources in Ankara said a US tracking station had picked up a possible launch from northern Iraq in the direction of the Turkish border. But the "target" disappeared from screens and the alarm was lifted.
A spokeswoman at Incirlik said two F-15 fighter-bombers on a routine patrol of the northern "no-fly zone" had been targeted by anti-aircraft artillery north of the city of Mosul. The US aircraft responded with three precision-guided bombs before returning to Incirlik.