Iraq: September 17, 1999

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Two Kuwaiti border guards were killed by gunfire from armed men moving south from Iraq. These may have been smugglers.

September 3; An Iraqi MiG-25 recon aircraft entered the northern no-fly zone briefly. The MiG took off about seven minutes after a US AWACS radar aircraft developed technical problems and left the area. Other radars covered the area, allowing US aircraft to show up quickly anyway. Iraqi anti-aircraft radars also tracked US aircraft, and US bombers subsequently bombed Iraq air defense targets. Most Iraqi anti-aircraft guns are currently located residential neighborhoods, but this particular one was not and was bombed. Iraqi aircraft often attempt to set up a "SAMbush" by briefly entering a no fly zone in the hope of drawing US aircraft within range of waiting SAM batteries. It hasn't worked yet. In the northern No-Fly Zone, US and allied aircraft have flown over 8,000 sorties since Operation Desert Fox in December, 1998. These sorties included using over 800 bombs to attack some 250 different targets In the southern No-Fly zone there have been only 51 such bombing attacks since Desert Fox.

September 2; Iraqi vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan was ambushed north of Baghdad. He escaped harm, but two of his bodyguards were killed and three others wounded. This event was not widely known until September 21st when Iraqi rebels made it public.

 

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