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U.S. jets bomb Iraqi air-defense system in no-fly zone |
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May 4, 2000 ISTANBUL, MAY 3 (AP) - Responding to Iraqi fire, U.S. warplanes bombed Iraq's air-defense system Wednesday in the northern no-fly zone, the U.S. military said.
Iraqi forces targeted allied planes with radar and fired anti-aircraft artillery from a site near Bashiqah, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Baghdad, according to a statement from the Germany-based U.S. European Command.
All allied planes left the area safely, the statement said.
Coalition aircraft have been enforcing no-fly zones in north and south Iraq since shortly after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurds and Shiites from the forces of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Saddam, who says the zones violate Iraq's territorial integrity, has been challenging the patrols since December 1998.
The U.S. jets patrol the northern no-fly zone from Incirlik air base in southern Turkey.
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