U.S. Smart Bombs Destroy Iraqi Command And Control Site

June 30, 2002

WASHINGTON — U.S. strikes have damaged one of the most significant Iraqi military assets attacked by allied planes over the last year.

U.S. officials said allied warplanes damaged an Iraqi command and control facility on Friday. They said the facility provided information on U.S. and British fighter-jets in southern Iraq.

The Iraqi facility was located in southern Iraq. But officials did not provide the exact location or the extent of the damage.

Officials said U.S. fighter-jets dropped precision-guided weapons to strike facilities of a military offensive command and control center on Friday. "This facility was struck because it helped direct anti-aircraft artillery attacks today against coalition aircraft authorized by the U.N. Security Council to enforce the no-fly zone in southern Iraq," a U.S. Central Command statement said.

U.S. defense sources said the command and control center was linked to radar and anti-aircraft artillery and missile batteries in southern Iraq.

The sources said the center represented an emerging threat to U.S. aircraft that enforced the no-fly zone in southern Iraq.

In Baghdad, President Saddam Hussein praised what he termed were achievements of the nation's military industry. Saddam did not elaborate but the reference appeared to include the improvements of Iraq's air defense system, including the development of a mobile anti-aircraft battery.

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