Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

U.S. forces again strike Iraqi missile site

Released: 30 Dec 1998

WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- For the second time in three days, coalition air forces came under attack Dec. 30 and returned fire against a missile site in Iraq.

The latest incident, this one over southern Iraq, occurred at about 1:30 a.m. EST, 9:30 a.m. local time, near the town of Talil. The strikes were in response to Iraqi surface-to-air missiles launched at coalition aircraft patrolling the southern no-fly zone.

According to a Joint Task Force Southwest Asia spokesman, a coalition British GR-1 Tornado aircraft flying an Operation Southern Watch mission visually detected the launch of six to eight SA-6s from a SAM site southwest of Talil.

F-16CJ, F-16CG and EA-6B aircraft, operating from bases in the Southwest Asia region and on patrol, responded by firing two high-speed anti-radiation missiles and several GBU-12 500-pound precision guided munitions at about 2:15 a.m. EST. There were no coalition aircraft damaged during the incident and battle damage assessment is ongoing.

Coalition aircraft are part of Operation Southern Watch that enforces United Nations sanctions and restrictions of the no-fly zone south of the 33rd parallel in Iraq. Aircrews are authorized to use force in self-defense.

Two days earlier, coalition aircraft came under similar attack from a SAM site north of the town of Mosul in northern Iraq. In that encounter, coalition forces responded with HARMs and precision-guided munitions.

The AGM-88 HARM carried by F-16 aircraft is an air-to-surface tactical missile designed to seek and destroy enemy radar-equipped air defense systems.