Another U.S.-Iraqi Skirmish

U.S. fighter planes attacked defense sites in northern Iraq on Monday after being targeted by Iraqi radar, U.S. officials said.

It was the second confrontation in the northern no-fly zone in about a month.

U.S. Air Force F-15Es dropped laser-guided bombs on radar sites in the vicinity of Mosul, according to a statement from the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey where American jets are based.

The statement said damage was being assessed. All coalition aircraft left the area safely.

On Saturday, the Iraqi armed forces said four civilians died and another was injured when U.S. jets struck Iraqi military sites in the area.

British and U.S. planes have targeted Iraqi defense sites in northern and southern Iraq since Iraq started challenging allied planes enforcing the no-fly zones in mid-December.

The northern and southern zones were set up after the 1991 Gulf War to prevent Iraqi warplanes from threatening rebel groups in the north and south.