U.S. planes bomb Iraqi site in no-fly zone

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) _ U.S. warplanes bombed an air defense site in northern Iraq on Friday after being targeted by an Iraqi missile guidance radar system, the U.S. military said. <br><br>The planes were

Friday, August 23rd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) _ U.S. warplanes bombed an air defense site in northern Iraq on Friday after being targeted by an Iraqi missile guidance radar system, the U.S. military said.

The planes were on a routine patrol when Iraqi radar locked on the warplanes flying near the northern Iraqi Kurdish city of Irbil, the Stuttgart, Germany-based U.S. European Command said in a statement.

``Coalition aircraft responded to the Iraqi attacks by firing on the radar site,'' the statement said. ``All coalition aircraft departed the area safely.''

The incident came at a time when the United States is considering an attack on Iraq aimed at overthrowing its leader, Saddam Hussein.

The planes are based at Incirlik air base in southern Turkey.

U.S. and British warplanes have been monitoring ``no fly'' zones over southern and northern Iraq since shortly after the 1991 Gulf War to protect the Kurdish minority and Shiite Muslims.

Iraq considers the patrols a violation of its sovereignty and frequently shoots at them.