Iraq: US, Britain attack sites near eclipse observers

The Iraqi News Agency reported that US and British warplanes on Tuesday bombed the Deer Matti area in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where correspondents of satellite television channels were preparing to monitor Wednesday's total solar eclipse.

The report said that several persons were killed and many more were wounded, but it did not give a specific number of victims.

The US European Command said on Tuesday that it had bombed "communications facilities" north and northeast of Mosul after being fired on by Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery. US airforce jets flying over Northern Israq fly from Incirlik airforce base in Turkey.

The US Central Command said that on Tuesday US jets bombed "three Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery sites and two Iraqi military radar sites" near the towns of Al Amarah, An Nasiriyah, As Samawah and Ar Rumaylah in the southern Iraq no-fly zone. It said these attacks were in response to Iraqi anti-aircraft fire.

INA said that US and British attacks were carried out on Tuesday in the provinces of Arbil, Basra, Duhok, Meisan, Muthanna, Nineveh and Thi-Qar in both northern and southern Iraq, adding that two Iraqis were wounded in these attacks.