17 August 2002
COALITION FORCES STRIKE IRAQI MILITARY COMMAND AND CONTROL FACILITY
August 20, 2002 Release 02-08-05
MACDILL AFB, FL - In response to recent Iraqi hostile acts against Coalition aircraft monitoring the Southern No-Fly Zone, Operation SOUTHERN WATCH Coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons today to target an air defense command and control facility near Al Amarah, approximately 120 miles southeast of Baghdad. The strike occurred at approximately 1:40 a.m. EDT.
Coalition strikes in the No-Fly Zones are executed as a self-defense measure in response to Iraqi hostile threats and acts against Coalition forces and their aircraft. The last Coalition strike in the Southern No-Fly Zone was against a mobile radar unit on August 17, 2002.
This calendar year there have been more than 110 separate incidents of Iraqi surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery fire directed against Coalition aircraft. Coalition aircraft never target civilian populations or infrastructure and go to painstaking lengths to avoid injury to civilians and damage to civilian facilities.
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