September 9, 2002
Release 02-09-05
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COALITION FORCES STRIKE IRAQI COMMAND AND CONTROL FACILITY
MACDILL AFB, FL -- In response to recent Iraqi hostile acts against Coalition aircraft monitoring the Southern No-Fly zone, Operation SOUTHERN WATCH Coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons today to strike an air defense command and control facility near Al Amarah, approximately 170 miles southeast of Baghdad, at 1:30 a.m. EDT.
Target battle damage assessment is ongoing.
Coalition strikes in the No-Fly Zones are executed as a self-defense measure in response to Iraqi hostile threats and acts against Coalition forces and their aircraft. The last Coalition strike in the Southern No-Fly Zone was against a military communications facility near Al Kut on Sep. 7, 2002.
This calendar year there have been more than 140 separate incidents of Iraqi surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery fire directed against Coalition aircraft. Coalition aircraft never target civilian populations or infrastructure and go to painstaking lengths to avoid injury to civilians and damage to civilian facilities.
