January 13th 1993; American, British and French fighter jets carried out a series of bombing raids over southern Iraq. The Iraqis have repeatedly breached the "no-fly zone" set up after the Gulf War - which began almost two years ago - and made a number of military raids over the border into Kuwait. The Gulf War Allies targeted missile sites and aircraft command and control bases.

The air raids took place early this evening, (1700 GMT) led by American stealth fighter bombers, based in Saudi Arabia. Planes were also deployed from a US aircraft carrier in the Gulf, and British tornado bombers and French mirage jets joined the attack. Initial reports suggest the mission was successful and there were no allied casualties.