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US and British warplanes on Thursday bombed Iraqi air-defense sites in the northern no-fly zone and dropped warning leaflets in the southern no-fly zone, US military officials said.
In the northern no-fly zone, coalition warplanes attacked sites south of Tall Afar in response to Iraqi anti-aircraft gunfire, the officials said. All warplanes returned safely to Incirlik Air Basein Turkey.
In the southern no-fly zone, 360,000 leaflets fluttered to the unmanned communication facilities between Al Kut and Al Basrah, which were attacked on Nov. 22 by coalition warplanes, warning Iraqis to stop repairing them, the officials said.
The no-fly zones were set up by the United States and Britain after the 1991 Persian Gulf War to deter the Iraqi air force from attacking rebels in the north and the south.
However, Iraq does not recognize the zones and has vowed to fire at any plane that violates its airspace.
(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2002)
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