Back مناطق حظر الطيران العراقية Arabic Беспалётныя зоны (Ірак) BE ناوچەکانی دژەفڕینی عێراق CKB Bezletové zóny v Iráku Czech Zonas de exclusión aérea en Irak Spanish האזורים האסורים לטיסה בעיראק HE Irak repüléstilalmi zónái Hungarian Konflik zona larangan terbang Irak ID 飛行禁止空域 (イラク) Japanese Zon Larangan Terbang Iraq Malay
| Iraqi no-fly zones | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the lead-up to the Iraq War | |||||||
 No-fly zones boundaries as they were from 1996 to 2003 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States  United Kingdom  France (until 1998)  Turkey[1][2] Saudi Arabia (Operation Southern Watch) Australia (Operation Habitat)Operation Provide Comfort/Provide Comfort II:  Germany Netherlands Italy Spain Portugal |
 Iraq | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
George H. W. Bush (until 20 January 1993) Bill Clinton (until 20 January 2001) George W. Bush (until 20 March 2003) John Shalikashvili (until 1997) Hugh Shelton (until 2001) T. Michael Moseley John Major Tony Blair François Mitterrand Jacques Chirac King Fahd Prince Abdullah |
Saddam Hussein | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
6,000 infantrymen 50 aircraft and 1,400 personnel at any one time | Unknown number of Iraqi Air Force personnel and Iraqi Police officers | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
2 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters shot down (friendly fire, 26 killed) 19 USAF personnel deployed as part of the operation killed in the Khobar Towers Bombing 5 RQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft shot down |
Unknown number of soldiers killed Unknown number of air defense systems destroyed 1 MiG-25 Foxbat shot down 1 MiG-23 Flogger shot down 2 Su-22 Fitters shot down | ||||||
| 1,400 Iraqi civilians killed (Iraqi government claim)[3] | |||||||
The Iraqi no-fly zones conflict was a low-level conflict in the two no-fly zones (NFZs) in Iraq that were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom, and France after the Gulf War of 1991. The United States stated that the NFZs were intended to protect the ethnic Kurdish minority in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. Iraqi aircraft were forbidden from flying inside the zones. The policy was enforced by the United States and the United Kingdom until 2003, when it was rendered obsolete by the 2003 invasion of Iraq. French aircraft patrols also participated until France withdrew in 1996.[4]
The Iraqi government claimed 1,400 civilians were killed by Coalition bombing during the NFZ.[5] The Kurdish-inhabited north gained effective autonomy and was protected from a feared repeat of the Anfal genocide in 1988 that killed tens of thousands of civilians. Over 280,000 sorties were flown in the first 9 years of the NFZs.[6]
This military action was not authorised by the United Nations.[7] The Secretary-General of the UN at the time the resolution was passed, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, called the no-fly zones "illegal" in a later interview with John Pilger.[8][9]
- ^ http://www.stripes.com/01/jun01/ed060401a.html[permanent dead link]
- ^ Defense.gov News Article: Patrolling Iraq's Northern Skies
- ^ Carrington, Anca. "Iraq: Issues, Historical Background, Bibliography." Page 18.
- ^ "BBC News | FORCES AND FIREPOWER | Containment: The Iraqi no-fly zones". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ Sponeck, Graf Hans-Christof; Sponeck, H. C. von; Amorim, Celso N. (October 2006). A Different Kind of War: The UN Sanctions Regime in Iraq. Berghahn Books. ISBN 9781845452223.
- ^ "Iraq Under Siege: Ten Years On". www.globalpolicy.org. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ "No-fly zones: The legal position". 19 February 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ A People Betrayed Archived 14 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine ZNet, 23 February 2003
- ^ ITV – John Pilger – "Labour claims its actions are lawful while it bombs Iraq, starves its people and sells arms to corrupt states"