Iraq said the U.S. and British warplanes bombed civilian installations southwest of Baghdad

LONDON, September 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - About 100 U.S. and British aircraft took part in an attack on an alleged western Iraqi air defense installation Thursday, September 4, in the biggest military operation against the 12-year-sanction-hit country for four years, the British Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The raid appeared to be a prelude to the type of special forces operations that would have to begin weeks before a possible American war, said the paper. It was launched two days before a war summit between U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the U.S. 

The massive raid seemed designed to destroy Iraqi air defenses to allow easy access for special forces helicopters to fly into Iraq via Jordan or Saudi Arabia before a possible war within the next few months, said Michael Smith, the Telegraph’s defense correspondent. 

Although only 12 aircraft dropped precision-guided bombs on to the H3 airfield, 240 miles west of Baghdad and close to Jordan, many support aircraft took part, he said.

The strikes were carried out by nine American F16 Strike Eagles and three RAF Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft flying from Kuwait.  

At least seven types of aircraft took part. Fighter cover was provided by U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcons and RAF Tornado F3s from Saudi Arabia. RAF VC10 tanker aircraft flying from Bahrain were among the support aircraft.  

These also included EA6b Prowlers, which send out signals to confuse enemy radar, and E3a Awacs aircraft that co-ordinate operations and carry out reconnaissance of any response. 

RAF Tornados also took part in the reconnaissance. American central command refused to go into detail about the number of aircraft involved in the raid.

It said: "Coalition strikes in the no-fly zones are executed as a self-defense measure in response to Iraqi hostile threats and acts against coalition forces and their aircraft."

The Pentagon said that the raid was launched in "response to recent Iraqi hostile acts against coalition aircraft monitoring the southern no-fly zone".

Iraq had this year made 130 attempts to shoot down coalition aircraft violating Iraqi airspace in the unrecognized no-fly zones. 

Until Thursday, all strikes had been against air defense sites in the south, around Basra, Amara, Nassairya and Baghdad.

Central command said it was still assessing the damage caused by the attack. If the alleged air defense installation was not destroyed, a second raid is expected.  

As well as blinding Iraqi radar to any special forces helicopters, the loss of the H3 installation would allow allied aircraft mounting major raids on Iraq a trouble-free route into the country. 

Meanwhile, an Iraqi military spokesman said that U.S. and British warplanes had bombed civilian installations southwest of Baghdad, without causing any casualties, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The fighter jets flew back to their bases in Kuwait after coming under Iraqi anti-aircraft missile fire, the spokesman added.

Iraq does not recognize the air exclusion zones over its north and south which Britain and the United States have enforced since the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

The zones are not sanctioned by any U.N. resolution and Iraq says almost 1,500 Iraqis have been killed as a result of the flights since 1991.

In a further sign that the U.S. was preparing for war, a Pentagon official confirmed that heavy armor, ammunition and other equipment had been moved to Kuwait from huge stores in Qatar, said the Telegraph.

Thomas White, the army secretary, said: "We have done a lot with pre-positioned stocks in the Gulf, making sure that they are in the right spot to support whatever the President wants to do."

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