Iraq Says 2 Dead In US Attack

Iraq said two people were killed and 12 injured in Western air attacks Monday.

"One of our civil sites was attacked today by long-distance guided weapons and the bombing led to the martyrdom of two civilian citizens and the injury of 12 others," the Iraqi News Agency INA quoted a military spokesman as saying.

The spokesman said preliminary data showed one of the planes was hit in the attack.

"At 10:33 a.m (2:33 a.m. EDT), 12 hostile formations coming from Turkish airspace violated our national airspace... and were challenged by our brave air defenses," he said.

"Thirteen hostile formations coming from Saudi and Kuwaiti airspace also violated our national airspace," he added.

A U.S. statement issued earlier in Turkey said U.S. warplanes flying from an air base in southern Turkey bombed Iraqi missile sites in the northern no-fly zone Monday after being fired at. It said all planes had left the area safely.

U.S. and British planes have been patrolling the skies over northern and southern Iraq since after the 1991 Gulf War to protect the Kurdish and Shiite minorities there. Baghdad has been challenging allied planes since December and skirmishes have become almost daily occurrences.