US jets fire on Iraqi air defences

US jets have struck Iraqi air defence systems in the northern no-fly zone.

They attacked after coming under Iraqi anti-aircraft fire, the US military says.

All warplanes left the area safely.

The warplanes were conducting routine patrols when the Iraqi military fired from sites north and west of Mosul, some 250 miles north of Baghdad, the Germany-based US European Command said in a statement.

The Iraqi news agency, quoting a military official, confirmed the air raid and reported no casualties.

The United States and Britain have been enforcing no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq since the end of the Gulf War in 1991.

The planes patrolling the northern zone are based in the southern Turkish air base of Incirlik.

Iraq considers the zones to be violations of its territorial sovereignty and has been challenging the patrols since December