An Iraqi military spokesman for the Iraqi Air Defence Command said in Baghdad on Wednesday US and British warplanes hit Iraqi targets in the western and southern parts of Iraq.
The INA News Agency quoted the unidentified spokesman as reporting that US and British warplanes buzzed over Iraqi cities in south Iraq coming from Kuwait and carried out 232 air raids. The spokesman said the warplanes flew over service and civil buildings in Al-Anbar governorate and Basra International Airport. Iraqi anti-aircraft units returned fire at the attacking warplanes, and forced them to flee the Iraqi airspace and return to their airbases in Kuwait, the spokesman added.
The US military said US and British warplanes struck seven sites in southern Iraq, targeting anti-aircraft artillery, missile systems and other air defenses.
Aircraft from the USS Kitty Hawk Navy carrier made their first bombing strikes on Iraq late Wednesday to enforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq.
Meanwhile, Al-Arabia TV reported that an Iraqi intelligence watchtower on the border with Jordan was bombed by six missiles in the attack.
(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2003)
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