April 29, 1999
Web posted at: 11:04 p.m. EDT (0304 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi officials said that 24 civilians were wounded in bombings by U.S. and British warplanes in Iraq's northern and southern "no-fly" zones on Thursday.

Quoting military officials, the official Iraqi news agency INA reported that 20 people were injured and 14 homes damaged or destroyed in Mosul, about 250 miles north of Baghdad.

Four civilians were injured in a separate wave of attacks in the southern regions of Basra, Muthana and Mesana, INA reported.

U.S. military officials said U.S. warplanes attacked Iraqi air defense sites in the northern no-fly zone near Mosul after being threatened by radar and fired upon. None of the planes were hit, and damage to Iraqi targets was still being assessed, the officials said.

There was no immediate confirmation of any attacks on targets in the southern no-fly zone.

The zones, patrolled by American and British aircraft, were set up after the Persian Gulf War to prevent Iraqi military aircraft from threatening opposition groups living in the northern and southern ends of the country.

Iraq does not recognize the legitimacy of the no-fly zones. Foreign Minister Mohamed Saed Al Sahaf told CNN Wednesday that Iraq would continue to fight against the U.S. and British planes patrolling over his country.

"The end game will be full failure for them," he said.