US, British aircraft bomb Iraqi air defences

Washington - US and British aircraft bombed Iraqi air defences yesterday, the eighth such incident this year, after coming under…

Washington - US and British aircraft bombed Iraqi air defences yesterday, the eighth such incident this year, after coming under fire while patrolling a no-fly zone in northern Iraq, the US military said.

President Bush, on holiday at his ranch in Texas, said the Iraqis had been "a menace forever" and said the bombing was fully in accordance with US-British procedures in the no-fly zones.

"I've been briefed on it," Mr Bush said after a round of golf near his central Texas ranch in Crawford.

"As you know, the military can make decisions as they see fit to protect our pilots, unless of course it's close to Baghdad."

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US European Command in Germany said aircraft of the joint US-British force, patrolling the northern no-fly zone from an air base in southern Turkey, had come under Iraqi anti-aircraft fire north of the city of Mosul.