PRESS RELEASE
UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fl33621-5101
phone: (813) 828-5895; fax: (813) 840-5629
______________________________________________________________________
Release # : 00-06-04
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 29, 2000
COALITION FORCES STRIKE SAM, AAA SITES
SOUTHWEST ASIA - At approximately 12:20 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (approximately 7:20 a.m. local time), U.S. Air Force F-16 "Fighting Falcons" and British Royal Air Force GR-1 "Tornado" aircraft enforcing the Southern No-Fly Zone used precision-guided weapons to strike a surface-to-air missile site and anti-aircraft artillery sites in southern Iraq.
All coalition aircraft have returned safely and battle damage assessment is ongoing.
The strikes came in response to multiple instances of AAA fire against coalition aircraft Wednesday.
To date, there have been more than 490 separate incidents of Iraqi SAM and AAA fire directed against coalition pilots since December 1998. Iraqi aircraft violated the Southern No-Fly Zone more than 150 times during the same period.
The sites were targeted to further degrade Iraq's ability to jeopardize coalition pilots and
aircraft enforcing United Nations' mandates. The last coalition strike was against an Iraqi military radar site near An Nasiriyah, and an AAA site near Ar Rumaylah on June 22.
Coalition aircraft do not target civilian populations or infrastructure and seek to avoid
injury to civilians and damage to civilian facilities.
6/29/00 8:10:55 AM
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