Allied warplanes strike military targets in Iraq

WASHINGTON -- Allied warplanes attacked military installations in southern Iraq Saturday in the third such attack this month.

The planes used precision-guided weapons to hit a command and control target in response to continued threats to patrolling U.S. and British pilots, said a statement from U.S. Central Command, which oversees the operation.

Iraq said the last airstrike, on Oct. 3, killed two civilians. A damage assessment from Saturday's strikes has not been completed, the U.S. statement said.

Iraq's official news agency quoted a military spokes-man as saying that "enemy warplanes bombed civil and service installations" in the province of Nasiriyah, which is about 220 miles south of Baghdad, the capital.