Iraq Steps Up Air War Against Iran; Town Struck, 100 Reported Killed

In a continuing escalation of the air war against Iran, Iraqi warplanes were reported to have bombed a western Iranian town Monday, killing at least 100 people and wounding scores.

The raid against Eslamabad, which was reported by Iran’s official news agency, came just a day after Iraqi planes reportedly killed 103 civilians in a raid on Bakhtaran.

Iraq said the warplanes struck military camps, air bases and other targets around Bakhtaran and Shahabad, inflicting “huge losses and leaving them in flames.” Iran said the attacks were carried out against purely civilian targets such as mosques and schools.

Part of Iraqi Strategy

Western military analysts said the two raids appear to be part of Iraqi strategy to disrupt Iran’s economy and sow dissension in the civilian population in an effort to force an end to the six-year-old Iran-Iraq War.

The raids are also noteworthy because the Iraqi air force, which was widely derided a year ago for cowardice and ineptitude, has dramatically improved its performance recently despite recent arms sales to Iran by the United States.

“Over the last 12 months, the effectiveness of the Iraqi air force has assumed a different order of magnitude,” said Don Kerr, an expert on military aviation at London’s prestigious International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Surprisingly, Western analysts said the Iraqi success probably had little to do with the reported provision to Iraq of secret satellite intelligence from the CIA in recent months.

Locations Are Known

“These targets have been around for a long time, and the Iraqis have long known where they are,” one analyst said. “The American satellite information might help them with damage assessment after a raid, but I doubt that this kind of thing is being passed along.”

Western analysts said that several factors have played a role in the improved Iraqi performance, notably the delivery to Iraq of an updated version of the French Mirage F-1 fighter-bomber and the French-produced AS-30 air-to-ground missile, which is laser-guided and has a range of about seven miles.

Another significant factor, according to the analysts, appeared to be a top-level decision by Iraq’s political leadership, headed by President Saddam Hussein, to free the air force from operating constraints that made it try to avoid losing planes or pilots.

Rumors of Foreign Pilots

There also have been widespread but unconfirmed reports in the Middle East that Iraq’s improved performance in the air war is due, in part, to the assistance of foreign pilots flying the planes.

The reports, which have mentioned pilots from other Arab states as well as France and South Korea, began to spread this summer when the Iraqi air force made several dramatic, long-distance bombing raids across the length of the Persian Gulf. These sophisticated operations require pilots to perform in-flight refueling from Soviet tanker aircraft, a feat that some analysts believe is beyond the skills of Iraqi pilots.

Iraqi strategy appears to be two-pronged: to attack civilian targets inside Iran and to disrupt Iran’s oil exports by harassing ships in the Persian Gulf and hitting oil loading sites and pumping stations.

Iraqi Stamp on Gulf

“The Iraqis have put their seal on the gulf, they’ve stamped it as Iraqi territory, the sort of gesture that gets noticed,” one analyst said.

Between them, Iraq and Iran have attacked 80 ships in the gulf so far this year, compared with 46 targeted in 1985. Last month, Iraq claimed to have struck 10 ships, four in one raid.

In recent weeks, Iraqi aircraft also have ranged widely over Iran, confirming that Iran’s air defenses are almost nonexistent despite the reported delivery to Iran of American Hawk air defense missiles and spare parts for interceptor aircraft.

The Iranians claim to have shot down 12 to 15 Iraqi aircraft in “recent months,” but last month only a single aircraft was reported downed. According to that report, a Phoenix missile was used, indicating that at least one of Iran’s sophisticated F-14 jet fighters, used only by the Iranians and the U.S. Navy, was operational.

Lack of Training Noted

Even with the reported delivery of the anti-aircraft missiles, the Iranians may be unable to use the weapons effectively because of lack of training, according to Western officials.

“It isn’t enough to go out with a sack of money and a shopping list of weapons,” said Kerr of the strategic studies institute. “You have to know how to use the weapons as well.”

Kerr and others expect to see a major Iranian emphasis in coming months on increased air defenses to counter the notion that the Iraqi air force has freedom of movement over Iran.

One recent sign of this effort came as reports surfaced in London that the British firm of Plessey PLC was negotiating to provide the Iranians with a sophisticated air defense radar.

The radar is necessary because Iran’s fleet of air interceptors, largely F-4s and F-5s, require ground controllers to guide them to a target before they can use their on-board radars over short distances.

The more sophisticated F-14s have their own longer-range radar, but few are believed to be operational because of the difficulty in getting spare parts.