Date: Mon, 29 Sep 97 16:26:49 CDT
Iran joins Turkey in bombing Iraq
South News update (Sept 29, 9:00PM AEST)
Iran joined Turkey in violating Iraq's US imposed "no fly zones" on Monday in separate bombing missions.The Iranian violation occured in the southern Zone while Turkey hit targets in in the north. "Iran...and another state are making use of the air embargo in the south and the north imposed by America and those who cooperate with it to violate Iraq's sovereignty and airspace and commit military aggression,'' the Iraqi spokesman said.
"At 7 a.m. local time this morning eight Iranian warplanes raided targets inside our territory in Daiyla and Kut provinces. Our alert anti-aircraft units have confronted the enemy planes as soon as the raids took place,'' the spokesman said, according to the Iraqi News Agency.
Several buildings at a base near Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, sustained some damage. It said the Iraqi civilians were injured near Jalula, 80 miles northeast of the capital, where bombs fell on residential areas. Kut 172 km (103 miles) southeast of Baghdad is inside a southern "no-fly'' zone set up by the United States and is patrolled by U.S. and British jets. Iranian attacks were believed to be directed at bases in Iraq that belong to an Iranian opposition group, The Mujahedeen Khalq, or People's Warriors. U.S. Air Force officials at the Joint Task Force-Southwest Asia, which is headquartered in the Saudi capital Riyadh and monitors the "Southern no-fly zone", declined comment.