Stage set for war as air patrols tripled

SETTING the stage for possible war, the US and Britain have nearly tripled the number of air patrols over southern Iraq’s no-fly zone, a senior defence official said.

The purpose: to keep Iraqi defenders off guard and mask the start of actual combat.

Three Iraqi civilians were killed when US and British warplanes bombed targets in a southern “no-fly” overnight, the Iraqi military said yesterday.