Iraq said four people were wounded when U.S. warplanes attacked civilian targets on Monday, while Washington said it had launched a raid after Western jets policing a southern "no-fly" zone were threatened. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold told a news briefing at the Pentagon in Washington that the U.S. warplanes had used precision-guided weapons to attack an aircraft-directional finding site at approximately 2:30 a.m. Iraq time. (Read map caption)

All of the planes departed the area safely and there was no immediate assessment of damage to the target, he said. Another defense official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters the target was located at as-Salman, about 170 miles south of the capital, Baghdad.

An Iraqi military spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the planes carried out 44 sorties from bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia flying over Nissirya, Samawah and As-Salman in Muthanna province and areas in Basra province in the south.

"The enemy attacked civilian and service installations in Muthanna province wounding four people," the spokesman said.
He added Iraq's ground air defenses fired at the planes and forced them to return to their bases.

The attack was the latest in a long series of exchanges in northern and southern no-fly zones of Iraq over more than a decade and came as Iraq and the United Nations continued discussions over the possible return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq.

It also occurred as speculation continued about possible plans for a U.S. military invasion of Iraq to remove President Saddam Hussein from power. Washington says Iraq is actively trying to make chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

MAP CAPTION

Iraq said four people were wounded when U.S. warplanes attacked civilian targets May 20, 2002, while Washington said it had launched a raid after Western jets policing a southern "no-fly" zone were threatened. (Reuters Graphic)