March 1, 1999
Web posted at: 1:15 p.m. EDT (1315 GMT)

MOSUL, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter jets dropped dozens of laser-guided bombs on Iraqi communications and anti-aircraft artillery sites in the northern no-fly zone on Monday, the U.S. military said.

A spokesman said it was the largest number of bombs dropped in one no-fly zone in a single day since Operation Desert Fox last fall in which airstrikes were launched against Iraq in retaliation for the expulsion of U.N. weapons inspectors.

The attacks were in response to Iraqi radar targeting U.S. aircraft patrolling the zone, said Capt. Air Force Capt. Mike Blass, spokesman for European Command headquarters in Germany.

He said more than 30 bombs were dropped on the targets following the Iraqi attacks, which were staged between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. (1430-1530) Baghdad time (6:30-7:30 a.m. ET).

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Damage was being assessed, Blass said, adding that the U.S. and British planes returned safely to base.

In a confrontation in the northern-no fly zone on Sunday, U.S. patrol aircraft attacked a radio relay site used by the Iraqis to pass targeting data from radar installations to anti-aircraft placements that were shooting at the U.S. aircraft.

Iraq said that the U.S. attack damaged an oil pipeline and disrupted the export of oil to Turkey.

"We responded to attacks upon our aircraft by targeting those facilities that allowed the Iraqi forces to place our pilots in jeopardy," U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen told reporters in Washington on Monday.

"We did in fact target a communications facility, which may or may not have interrupted the flow of oil temporarily going into Turkey but we believe that the target itself was one that was used for communications purposes to their military."

The Turkish ambassador to the United States, Baki Ilkin, said Monday the oil pipeline was back in operation.

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