UK confirms Iraq assault

Royal Air Force planes joined U.S. jets on the mission

LONDON, England -- British warplanes took part in airstrikes on Iraq alongside U.S. aircraft, the UK Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

An MoD spokeswoman said the mission followed a rise in the number of attacks on coalition aircraft in no-fly zones over Iraq.

"In January there were more missiles (fired at coalition aircraft) than in the whole of the year 2000. In view of the significant rise there was no choice but to take action," the spokeswoman told CNN.com.

The attacks had been directed at Iraqi military targets, she said.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is at his weekend retreat Chequers and was kept informed of the strike.

But it was Minster of Defence Geoff Hoon who authorised British planes to be used, CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour said.

The MoD spokeswoman said a total of four GR1s, two Tornado F3s and two VC10 tanker aircraft had taken part in the action, which was launched from Ali al Salem in Kuwait.

All had returned safely and they were being debriefed.

British aircrews regularly fly patrols over the no-fly areas established over Iraq at the end of the 1991 Gulf War, in which an allied coalition drove invading Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

Threats to coalition aircraft over Iraq have in the past been met by repeated U.S. and British air strikes. Iraq has accused the allies of hitting civilian targets.

Sounds of large explosions were heard clearly in Baghdad and Iraqi anti-aircraft systems opened fire in the air.

UK Ministry of Defence
The Iraqi Presidency
U.N. Office of the Iraq Programme

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.