BAGHDAD — U.S. and British warplanes bombed sites in southern Iraq on Sunday, killing four people and wounding five others, Iraq's air-defense command said.
The U.S. Central Command in Florida said coalition aircraft struck three targets in southern Iraq. The planes--U.S. Air Force F-16s--fired precision-guided munitions at radar and communications sites.
The attacks were in response to Iraqi antiaircraft artillery fire at coalition planes patrolling the southern "no-fly" zone, Central Command said.
It said all aircraft returned safely to base.
The official Iraqi News Agency quoted an air-defense spokesman as saying, "Warplanes bombed savagely one of the service facilities in Abu al Khasib, Basra province, resulting in the death of one person and the injury of two [others]."
Iraq uses the term "service facility" to refer to water and electricity supplies.
The spokesman also said the aircraft attacked a farmer's house in Qurnah, Basra, killing three people and injuring three.
U.S. and British planes patrol no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq that were set up to protect rebels from Iraqi air attacks.
