Iraq says two killed in allied air strike

Iraq today said two people were killed and 13 injured when US and British war planes bombed what it said were civilian installations in the south of the country.

A military spokesman said the raid took place on Monday night, but he gave no details of what was hit.

The US military said American jets bombed two Iraqi anti-aircraft radar that threatened pilots patrolling the southern no-fly zone.

The planes used precision-guided weapons to target the mobile radar equipment at about 2030 Irish time on Monday near Al Amarah, about 165 miles southeast of Baghdad, according to US Central Command.

It was the second air strike this year by US planes patrolling the southern no-fly zone, which was set up more than a decade ago to prevent Iraq’s army from attacking Shiite Muslims in the region.

A strike on Saturday targeted three Iraqi air defence communications sites in the same general area as Monday’s strike.

US and British war planes patrol another no-fly zone in northern Iraq to protect the Kurdish minority. Iraq considers the no-fly zones violations of its sovereignty and frequently tries to shoot down the planes.