Iraqi Radar, Rockets Hit in ‘No-Fly’ Zone

WASHINGTON — Aircraft taking part in U.S.-British patrols attacked an Iraqi air defense radar and a rocket system in western Iraq on Tuesday, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said the jets launched precision-guided weapons against a mobile air defense early-warning radar and a mobile multiple-rocket system near Ar Rutbah, about 250 miles west of Baghdad. The city is near the northern border of the southern “no-fly” zone.

“The coalition executed today’s strike after Iraqi forces moved the mobile radar and missile systems into the southern ‘no-fly’ zone,” the military said in a statement. “Target battle damage assessment is ongoing.”

The previous coalition strike came Monday in the same area against an Iraqi military mobile air defense early-warning radar, the U.S. military said.

The no-fly zones, patrolled by the U.S. and Britain, were established following the Persian Gulf War to protect Iraqi Kurds and Shiite Muslims from President Saddam Hussein’s forces. The northern zone extends north from the 36th parallel; the southern one extends south from the 33rd parallel.