50 British and US jets attack Iraq
British and US warplanes have launched air strikes in southern no-fly zones of Iraq.
Twenty warplanes and 30 support aircraft attacked Iraqi communications, radar and missile sites. All were said to have returned safely to their bases.
Three sites were bombed in response to increased efforts by Iraqi air defences to shoot down allied pilots, said US defence officials. It was the largest allied strike against Iraq since February.
The planes struck targets described by the defence official as a military communications centre, a surface-to-air missile launching site and a radar - all elements of Iraq integrated air defence network.
All three targets were in southern Iraq, where US and British planes have been enforcing a no-fly zone since shortly after the end of the 1991 Gulf War.
The zone is designed to protect Shiite rebels from attacks by government forces.
Iraq in recent months has stepped up efforts to shoot down the allied planes patrolling in both southern and northern Iraq.
The US planes were launched from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in the Persian Gulf, another official said, and from land bases in the region. Some of the support aircraft apparently flew from bases in Saudi Arabia.
