¡¡¡¡WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- US and British warplanes bombeda military command facility in the southern no-fly zone over Iraq Tuesday in response to Iraqi air defense fire, US military officials said.

¡¡¡¡Coalition warplanes bombed a command and control and communications facility with precision-guided weapons near Al Kut,about 160 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, the US Central Command said in a statement.

¡¡¡¡The strike occurred at 10:15 GMT after Iraqi forces fired surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery at coalition planes, the statement said.

¡¡¡¡"Coalition strikes in the no-fly zones are executed as a self-defense measure in response to Iraqi hostile threats and acts against coalition forces and their aircraft," the statement added.

¡¡¡¡US and British planes have been patrolling the two no-fly zonessince the 1991 Gulf War with a claimed aim of protecting the Kurdsin the north and Shiite Muslims in the south from persecution of the Iraqi government.

¡¡¡¡Iraq does not recognize the air exclusion zones and has regularly opened fire at the Western planes enforcing the two no-fly zones.

¡¡¡¡Iraq said more than 1,400 Iraqis have been killed and over 1400others injured by the US and British bombings since the end of theGulf War. Enditem