HEADQUARTERS,
UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 828-5894; FAX: (813) 840-5629; DSN 968-5894
August 15, 1999
RELEASE NUMBER: 99-08-03
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COALITION AIRCRAFT RESPOND TO IRAQI PROVOCATIONS
MACDILL AFB, FL - At approximately 2:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time today, U.S. Air Force F-16 "Fighting Falcon," U.S. Navy F-14 "Tomcat" and British GR-1 "Tornado" aircraft enforcing the Southern No-Fly Zone used precision guided munitions to strike four Iraqi military targets in three locations in southern Iraq.
Coalition aircraft struck a military communications site near Al Amarah, a military radar site near Ash Shuaybah and, both a military communications and a military radar site in the vicinity of Tallil. All aircraft have returned safely to their bases and battle damage assessment is ongoing.
The strikes followed three separate incidents yesterday in which Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery batteries fired at coalition aircraft patrolling the Southern No-Fly Zone. In the last three days that coalition aircraft have flown missions over southern Iraq, they have encountered anti-aircraft artillery fire more than a dozen times.
Over the course of the last three weeks, the Iraqis have fired a surface-to-air missile at coalition aircraft and directed anti-aircraft artillery fire at planes patrolling the no-fly zone numerous times. Over this same period, in violation of UN sanctions, Iraqi aircraft
have violated the no-fly zone several times in an obvious attempt to draw coalition aircraft into known Iraqi surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery threat areas.
U.S. and coalition aircraft are part of Operation Southern Watch and are responsible for enforcing United Nations sanctions and restrictions of the no-fly zones in Iraq. Despite repeated warnings, Iraqi actions and intentions pose serious threats to our forces and friends in the region and, our actions today are an appropriate response to these violations and support UN mandates.
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