US warns Iraq after plane is fired on in no-fly zone

The United States warned Baghdad of 'serious consequences' after Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery fired on four US jets monitoring the UN-imposed no-fly zone in northern Iraq, AFP reports from Washington.

US jets dropped cluster bombs on the position in retaliation, but it was not clear whether the bombs had hit the Iraqi batteries, the Pentagon said.

The US aircraft - three F-16s and an F-4G - were conducting what was described as a routine monitoring mission within the no-fly area north of the 36th parallel at the time of the incident.

In Baghdad, officials denied that Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries had opened fire on the US aircraft. But they said that two unidentified planes had bombed a military compound near Saddam Dam, north of Mosul, and injured an Iraqi soldier.