Iraq claims seven killed in allied airstirke

A US-British airstrike in southern Iraq on Friday killed seven civilians and wounded four others, the Iraqi military said.

An unidentified military spokesman told the official Iraqi News Agency that warplanes bombed areas in Najaf province, 150 kilometres (93 miles) south of Baghdad.

The report didn’t provide further details.

US and British warplanes monitoring no-fly zones over southern and northern Iraq regularly attack Iraqi military facilities in what they say is response to hostile Iraqi fire.

The zones were established shortly after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurdish and Shiite Muslim groups. Iraq, which considers the zones violations of its sovereignty, frequently tries to shoot down allied planes.