U.S.-British Air Raids Kill Five Iraqis, Wound 17
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The U.S. wants to topple Saddam, Iraqi civilians get killed |
BAGHDAD, July 19
(IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Five Iraqis were killed, including
an infant and two women, and 17 wounded when U.S. and British
warplanes bombed southern Iraq, Iraqi officials said Friday, July 19,
2002.
"Five
citizens were killed and 17 injured when enemy (U.S. and British)
warplanes bombed civilian and services installations in
Al-Diwaniya," 170 kilometers (105 miles) south of Baghdad, at
11:15 p.m. Thursday (1915 GMT), said a military spokesman, quoted by
the official INA news agency, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He
said the warplanes, which "flew in from Kuwaiti airspace, backed
by an AWACS plane that flew in from Saudi airspace," staged
"armed sorties" over 11 other localities in southern Iraq.
They were then "forced to flee back to their bases" by Iraqi
anti-aircraft artillery and missile fire.
U.S.
and British aircraft took part in "this new crime", which
killed a 62-year-old man, Hamza Ghafel, and four members of one
family, including a one-and-a-half-year-old girl, according to INA.
It
identified the four as Raheem Abd Hlaihel, 32, his wife Najiba Dayef,
32, Lamia Dayef, 30, and the child Hiba Raheem Abd Hlaihel.
Iraqi
Television broadcast scenes from Al-Diwaniya, showing missile impacts
near homes, one of which was completely destroyed, and a car with its
shattered windows.
It
also ran footage of a funeral procession with five coffins draped with
the Iraqi flag and mounted on cars winding its way through town
followed by a large crowd, which included local officials.
"The
bombardment of innocent civilians shows the blind hatred of the U.S.
administration of evil against the Iraqi people," charged a
wounded man shown in a hospital bed.
There
was no immediate word from the U.S. military on the incident.
Almost
daily skirmishes are reported in "no-fly" zones enforced by
U.S. and British warplanes over northern and southern Iraq since the
end of the 1991 Gulf War. Baghdad does not recognize the zones, which
are not sanctioned by any UN resolution.
On
Monday, an Iraqi military spokesman said one person was killed and six
were wounded in a U.S.-British raid Sunday on "civilian
installations" in the southern province of Najaf.
The
Pentagon claimed the planes struck a mobile radar for a surface-to-air
missile launcher. The radar was allegedly attacked with precision
guided weapons after it was moved into the southern no-fly zone.
Iraq
says U.S.-British raids in the air exclusion zones have now killed
1,483 Iraqis and wounded 1,400.
In
a separately related development, U.S. President George W. Bush said
Friday he is determined to move against rogue states before it is too
late, alluding to Iraq at a speech to U.S. army soldiers.
"Against
such enemies we cannot sit quietly and hope for the best, to ignore
this mounting danger," Bush said.
"We
will use diplomacy when possible and force when necessary," he
said. "We will prepare deliberately and act decisively.
"It
should be clear to all friends and enemies alike. America will not
leave the safety of our people and the future of peace in the hands in
the few and evil destructive men."
Bush
was speaking to soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division, based at
Fort Drum. Soldiers from the division recently returned from service
in Kosovo and Afghanistan, where they took part in combat against
Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters.
Although
world leaders appear to be in deadly earnest over warnings that Saddam
must be deposed by force, some in the U.S. are asking why a blueprint
for the conflict was leaked at the moment when sleaze scandals hit a
new peak, Said the British daily the Guardian Sunday, July 14.
In
an article entitled “war clouds gather as hawks lay their plans”,
the paper said that the different signs about a close U.S. attack on
Iraq could be a way to distract the world from U.S. financial
scandals.
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