B-1 bomber attacks Iraqi radar

6.00pm

WASHINGTON - A United States B-1 heavy bomber taking part in US-British patrols over Iraq has attacked two Iraqi radars west of Baghdad, defence officials say.

The attack was the latest in a long series of such strikes by Western planes, but it was unusual in that it was carried out by a heavy bomber. The B-1, the backbone of America's long-range bomber force, is one of numerous US warplanes being moved into the Gulf region for use in a possible war against Iraq.

The aircraft, which one official identified as a B-1B Lancer, used precision-guided weapons to target two mobile radar systems about 230 miles west of Baghdad.

The attack was launched after Iraqi forces moved one of the radar systems into the "no-fly zone" over southern Iraq, where it was a threat to the US and British planes patrolling the zone, defence officials said. They said it was the 34th such strike by Western planes since January.

More than 250,000 American and British troops in the Gulf are poised for a possible US-led invasion of Iraq.

The no-fly zones were set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurds in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south from Baghdad's forces. Iraq does not recognise the zones.

- REUTERS