Iraq says four civilians killed in air strike

Four Iraqis were killed and 10 injured today as US and British warplanes bombed Nineveh province, 400 kilometers north of Baghdad…

Four Iraqis were killed and 10 injured today as US and British warplanes bombed Nineveh province, 400 kilometers north of Baghdad, an Iraqi military spokesman said.

"Enemy warplanes bombed civilian and service installations in Nineveh province, killing four civilians and wounding 10," the spokesman said, quoted by the official INA news agency.

The aircraft, which flew in from Turkish airspace, "staged 16 armed sorties" over seven other regions of northern Iraq, the spokesman said.

"Missiles and ground defenses opened up on the planes, forcing them to flee to their bases in Turkey," he said.

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"The US administration of evil and its British subordinate thus added a new crime to their criminal record against our people," the spokesman added.

The US military earlier said American warplanes attacked an Iraqi surface-to-air missile system in northern Iraq with precision-guided munitions.

It said the missile system was northwest of the town of Mosul in a "no-fly" zone which is enforced by US and British aircraft flying out of Incirlik air base in Turkey.

Iraq reported on October 3rd that five civilians were killed and 11 others wounded when US and British warplanes bombed the south of the country.

US and British forces have recently stepped up air attacks in "no-fly" zones they have been enforcing over northern and southern Iraq since the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

AFP