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Allied jets strike two Iraqi sites©Associated PressNovember 7, 2002 WASHINGTON -- Allied planes bombed two military sites in the southern no-fly zone over Iraq on Wednesday, defense officials said. The bombing brought to 54 the number of days this year that such strikes were reported by the U.S.-Britain coalition, whose mission is to patrol two zones set up to protect Iraqi minorities after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons to target two surface-to-air missile systems and a command and control communications facility at 6:30 a.m. EST, the U.S. Central Command in Tampa said. The missile systems were near Al Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, and the command facility was near Tallil, 160 miles southeast of the capital, it said. Damage assessment was incomplete. Tallil is the site of an airfield and defense facility that would be central to Saddam Hussein's defense against a U.S. invasion. Since mid September, Tallil Air Base has been struck more than a half-dozen times, according to Central Command. The bombing apparently has not been extensive enough to neutralize the base.
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