The Iraqi military says a U.S.-British air raid in southern Iraq on Sunday left eight civilians dead and nine wounded.

The U.S. Central Command in Florida said coalition aircraft used precision-guided weapons to strike two air defense radar systems near the Basra province (south of Baghdad) “in response to recent Iraqi hostile acts against coalition aircraft monitoring the Southern No-Fly Zone.”

Iraq said U.S. and British warplanes attacked civilian targets in the south of the country Monday for the second consecutive day. A civilian was injured.

U.S. officials have said they have no way of confirming or denying Iraqi claims of casualties. They say coalition aircraft “never target civilian populations or infrastructure and go to painstaking lengths to avoid injury to civilians and damage to civilian facilities.”

Guests:

• Ramsey Clark, former US Attorney General, speaking from Basra City.
• Lieutenant Colonel David Lapan, Pentagon spokesperson.

Related link:

• International Action Center