Iraq said its anti-aircraft defenses hit two US or British warplanes on Thursday as they attacked "civilian" installations in the south of the country.
"All the signs are that two enemy planes bombarding our civilian installations in Basra and Zi Qar provinces were hit by our air defenses," a military spokesman said, quoted by the official news agency INA.
The Pentagon said earlier that US and British planes struck two anti-aircraft artillery sites in southern Iraq on Thursday, responding to recent "hostile threats" to coalition aircraft enforcing a no-fly zone.
The air strikes had nothing to do with the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.
"In response to recent Iraqi hostile threats against coalition aircraft conducting routine monitoring of the southern no-fly zone, coalition aircraft used precision guided weapons to strike anti-aircraft artillery sites in southern Iraq," he said.
A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said US and British warplanes struck two sites -- one near the port of Basra and the other near Shahban.
In London, a defense ministry spokeswoman said, "Our assessment is that it was successful, with no collateral damage." -- BAGHDAD (AFP)
