Iraq hit by new wave of US raids
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Your support makes all the difference.THE UNITED States launched fresh air strikes on Iraq yesterday, hitting five targets in the north of the country.
On the fourth consecutive day of attacks, it hit radar, anti-aircraft and missile sites around Mosul, one of the key battlegrounds since the US and Britain launched a campaign of air strikes last month. Yesterday's incidents followed threats from Iraqi surface-to-air missiles and anti- aircraft artillery, the US said.
America announced on Monday that it was not responding directly to threats to its aircraft by launching tit-for-tat responses, but was considering the Iraqi air defence system as one co-ordinated threat.
Confirming the arrangement yesterday, the US National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger, said: "The President has responded to requests by the military for more expansive rules of engagement."
There were three more violations of the no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq, both of which involved what the US calls "cheat and retreat" - planes that fly into the zone and then quickly out again. The US says that in some cases, Iraqi aircraft are trying to lure their planes into "sambushes" - situations where they can be hit by surface-to-air missiles.
The US admitted that one of its missiles might have caused the carnage in Basra, where 11 people were found dead after a US attack. "We have the possibility of one missile that may have been errant," said General Anthony Zinni, head of the US Central Command, yesterday. But the US did not hold itself responsible, putting the blame instead on President Saddam Hussein.
The US sent eight more F-16 fighters to Kuwait yesterday, part of an effort to boost the southern no-fly zone, and is about to deploy 12 more A-10 tankbusters, which are used for ground attack. About 200 aircraft are stationed in the Gulf, on ships and on land, to patrol the southern no-fly zone.
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