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US, Iraq hostilities resume

American warplanes today fired missiles at an Iraqi air defence site in the north, killing four soldiers, the Iraqi government said in a statement.

Seven other soldiers were injured and Iraqi air defences fired back in response, forcing the warplanes to flee, according to the statement attributed to an unnamed military spokesman and distributed by the information ministry.

In London, a spokesman for the defence ministry said British planes were not involved. But, speaking on condition of anonymity, he confirmed that there were reports of American aircraft coming under attack in northern Iraq and retaliating.

American officials said warplanes of the United States returned fire on an Iraqi target after coming under attack from a surface-to-air missile in the "no-fly" zone in northern Iraq.

The casualties are the first reported by Iraq since a four-day bombing campaign by American and British forces ended on December 19. Iraq said 62 soldiers and at least 40 civilians died in those air strikes. But it never gave a final civilian casualty count.

"The murderers and criminals returned once again and violated our national airspace," Baghdad's statement said. It added that "several enemy formations" entered Iraqi airspace at 1025 hours local time (0725 GMT) from Turkey.

Iraqi air defences "confronted them with valour and forced them to flee to their bases of evil and aggression in Turkey," the statement said.

The statement said another wave of planes entered Iraq at 1337 hours local time (1037 GMT) and "fired criminal missiles against one of our sites in the area".

These missiles, it said, killed four soldiers and wounded seven.

American and British jets patrol the "no-fly" zone set up in 1991 to protect Iraqi Kurds following their failed uprising against the government of President Saddam Hussein after its defeat in the Gulf war.

AP

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