COALITION AIRCRAFT RESPOND TO IRAQI ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE
MACDILL AFB, FL - At approximately 1:45 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time today, U.S. Air Force F-16 "Fighting Falcon" aircraft enforcing the Southern No-Fly Zone used precision guided munitions to strike two Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery sites near Tallil, approximately 170 miles south-southeast of Baghdad.
All coalition aircraft have returned safely and battle damage assessment is ongoing.
The strike came in response to Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery fire directed at coalition aircraft patrolling the no-fly zone yesterday and during the past week.
To date, there have been more than 500 separate incidents of Iraqi AAA and surface-to-air missile fire directed against coalition pilots since December 1998. Additionally, Iraqi aircraft have 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 AAA site near Ar Rumaylah on July 13.
Coalition aircraft do not target civilian populations or infrastructure and seek to avoid injury to civilians and damage to civilian facilities.
7/22/00 7:38:34 AM
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