Air Strike 13 January 1993
Operation Southern Watch

On 13 January 1993 by the British, French and U.S. aircraft were sent to punish Saddam Hussein's defiance of United Nations and Persian Gulf coalition orders. More than 100 coalition aircraft, including some 80 strike aircraft, took part in the raid, which followed a January 6 ultimatum to Baghdad demanding removal of the missiles from the southern "no-fly" zone imposed at the time of the Persian Gulf war. American F-15s, F-16s, F-18s and F-117s took part in the raid, together with French Mirages and British Tornadoes. Additional support aircraft also participated. The aircraft operated from locations on the Arabian peninsula, from the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier, and from other undisclosed sites in the Persian Gulf. The planes bombed Iraqi radar and missile sites near Nasiriya, Samawa, Najaf and Al Amara. The sites are not near population centers. Only half the targetted Iraqi surface-to-air missiles sites were hit. The air strike was described by US officials as a limited assault meant to make a political rather than a military point.

Documents

• COALITION LAUNCHES LIMITED AIR STRIKE AGAINST IRAQ By Jacquelyn S. Porth USIA (01/13/93)
• AIR STRIKE ON IRAQI TARGETS "BIG SUCCESS," BUSH SAYS By Alexander M. Sullivan USIA (01/14/93)