US and British planes conducted air raids on civil installations in southern Iraq last night injuring 18 people, it emerged today.
An Iraqi military spokesman said: "Enemy warplanes struck civil and public installations in the Zi Qar province where 18 Iraqi citizens were injured."
He said the attacks were launched on Friday at 11 p.m. (8 p.m. Irish time) on the province which lies 233 miles south of Baghdad.
The warplanes "came from Kuwaiti airspace" and were supported by radar planes from Saudi airspace, the spokesman said, adding that Iraqi anti-air defences opened fire on the planes "forcing them to escape back to their bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait."
Air raids on Iraq's installations are an almost daily occurrence, with US and British warplanes overflying the no-fly-zone that was imposed on the northern and southern sections of Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War.
Iraq does not recognize these zones, which were not officially imposed by the UN Security Council.
According to Baghdad, US and British air strikes have killed 1,477 people and injured 1,358, since the zones were imposed a decade ago.
AFP
