Coalition forces strike anti-ship missile in Iraq

Fighter jets aboard the flight deck of the USS George Washington

MacDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Florida (CNN) -- In response to Iraqi threats against coalition ships in the Arabian Gulf, U.S. and British aircraft struck an anti-ship missile in the southern no-fly zone Friday, the Pentagon said.

The planes struck the ground-launched missile near Al Basrah, about 245 miles southeast of Baghdad, at approximately 5:45 p.m. EDT, the Pentagon said in a news release.

Officials were assessing battle damage.

Coalition strikes in the northern and southern no-fly zones are carried out in response to Iraqi threats and acts against coalition forces and their planes, according to the Pentagon.

The last coalition strike in the southern no-fly zone occurred on Thursday against an air defense command-and-control facility. (Full story)

U.S. and allied forces have patrolled no-fly zones over southern and northern Iraq since the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Coalition policy is to strike in self-defense if Iraqi air defense facilities target or fire at allied aircraft.

This year, there have been more than 130 incidents of Iraqi surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery fire directed against coalition aircraft, according to the Pentagon.