Western planes strike air defence site in Iraq

US and British fighter jets bombed an air defence command and control facility about 120 miles southeast of Baghdad today, the…

US and British fighter jets bombed an air defence command and control facility about 120 miles southeast of Baghdad today, the US Central Command said in a statement.

Central Command said the strikes against the Al Amarah facility came "in response to recent Iraqi hostile acts against coalition aircraft monitoring the southern no-fly zone" and were executed using precision-guided weapons.

It was the third Western raid against Iraqi targets within a week, following a strike against a mobile radar unit on Saturday and strikes by US and British planes against targets in southern Iraq last Wednesday.

The US military cited more than 110 separate incidents of Iraqi surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery fire directed against coalition aircraft this year.

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Tuesday's raid was the 28th this year by US and British warplanes in northern and southern "no-fly zones" of Iraq, set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurds in the north and Shi'ite Muslims in the south from attack by Baghdad's forces.

The raids have increased in recent months amid threats from US President Bush to oust President Saddam Hussein.

Washington accused Baghdad of developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Iraq denied the charge.