Warplanes attack Iraq, four dead

US and British jets patrol a no-fly8217; zone over northern Iraq that was set up in 1991 to protect Iraqi Kurds after their failed uprising against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Today8217;s incident occurred just north of Mosul, according to the Pentagon. Major Tony Kemper, a spokeswoman for the US-European command based near Stuttgart, Germany, said the planes were attacked by Iraqi surface-to-air missiles.

8220;The aircraft acted in self-defence and attacked theground-based missile launch site with HARM high-speed anti-radiation missiles and precision-guide munitions,8221; she said.

8220;There was no damage to coalition aircraft and all crew returned safely to Incirlik air base in Turkey.8221; She added that officials were still trying to assess the damage to Iraqi forces.

Two Iraqi missiles were fired, a Turkish foreign ministry spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

8220;There was a hostile Iraqi action, an act of aggression against US aircraft,8221; Pentagon spokesman Colonel Richard Bridges said.

8220;The US took appropriate action under their rules of engagement.8221;

In London, a spokesman for the ministry of defence said its planes were not involved in today8217;s incident.

However, Bridges said, over the weekend, two British Tornado planes reported seeing anti-aircraft fire from Iraqi sites about eight km away. He had no further details about that incident.

The casualties today were the first reported by Iraq since a four-day bombing campaign by American andBritish forces ended to December 19. Iraq said 62 soldiers and at least 40 civilians died in those air strikes, but never gave a final civilian casualty count.

8220;The murderers and criminals returned once again and violated our national airspace,8221; today8217;s Iraqi statement said, adding that 8220;several enemy formations8221; entered Iraqi airspace at 10.25 am local time from Turkey.

Iraqi air defences 8220;confronted them with valour and forced them to flee to their bases of evil and aggression in Turkey,8221; the statement said.

Another wave of Western planes entered Iraq at 1.37 pm local time 8220;and fired criminal missiles against one of our sites,8221; it said, adding that this killed four soldiers and wounded seven.