RELEASE NUMBER: 00-09-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COALITION AIRCRAFT RESPOND TO IRAQI PROVOCATIONS
MACDILL AFB, FL - At approximately 8:40 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, coalition aircraft enforcing the Southern No-Fly Zone used precision-guided weapons to strike integrated air defense command-and-control sites in southern Iraq.
All coalition aircraft have returned safely and battle damage assessment is ongoing.
The strikes came in response to anti-aircraft artillery fire directed yesterday against coalition aircraft enforcing United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
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 three air defense command-and-control sites and three anti-aircraft artillery sites on August 30.
Coalition aircraft do not target civilian populations or infrastructure and take conscientious measures to avoid injury to civilians and damage to civilian facilities.
Since December 1998, Iraq has fired anti-aircraft artillery or surface to air missiles at coalition aircraft or violated the Southern No-Fly-Zone nearly 700 times.
By enforcing the UNSCR-directed No-Fly-Zones in Iraq, coalition pilots are protecting the Shiite population in the South and the Kurdish population in the North.
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