Allies bombs hit Iraq defense sites

WASHINGTON -- Allied planes bombed two military air defense sites in the southern no-fly zone over Iraq Wednesday in the third round of strikes in a week, defense officials said.

The bombing brought to 52 the number of days this year that such strikes were reported by the United States and the United Kingdom coalition, whose mission is to patrol two zones set up to protect Iraqi minorities following the 1991 Gulf War.

Coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons to target an air defense communications facility near Al Jarrah, 90 miles southeast of Baghdad, and an air defense operations center near Tallil, 160 miles southeast of Baghdad, said a statement from the U.S. Central Command.

The strikes were launched at about 5:10 p.m. Tuesday in Washington -- early Wednesday morning in Iraq -- after Iraqis fired anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles at coalition aircraft doing patrols, the statement said.

It said damage assessment was incomplete.

Iraq considers the patrols a violation of its sovereignty and frequently shoots at the patrols run in the southern zone by the Central Command and in the northern no-fly zone by the U.S. European Command. In response, coalition pilots try to bomb Iraqi air defenses.

The hostilities have been going on for years but are being watched more closely since the Bush administration has vowed to oust President Saddam's Hussein's regime. The Pentagon has also changed its targeting in recent months.