Iowa guard planes fire on Iraqi sites

Warplanes from Iowa opened fire on Iraqi military facilities today in thenorthern “no-fly” zone, according to a spokesman for the Iowa Air NationalGuard. Colonel Robert King says the Air Guard F-16s dropped precision-guidedbombs on two communications facilities that were relaying radar informationto anti-aircraft artillery units. King says the Iraqis were threating orfiring upon the Iowa-based fighter jets.The damage to the facilities is still being assessed. King says all of theU-S planes returned safely to the base in Turkey. About 200 members of the132nd Fighter Wing, based in Des Moines, are on a 30-day rotation in thePersian Gulf region.American jets also bombed hostile Iraqi communications sites yesterday, butKing could NOT confirm if Iowans were involved in that mission.