Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
August 30, 2002
Release 02-08-09
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COALITION FORCES STRIKE SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILE SITE
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 strike a surface-to-air missile site near An Kut, 150 miles southeast of Baghdad, at approximately 2:30 a.m. EDT.
Target battle damage assessment is ongoing.
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 military radar system on August 29, 2002.
This calendar year there have been more than 120 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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