Baghdad - Several Iraqi civilians were killed or injured yesterday in a strike by US and British warplanes in northern Iraq, the official agency INA said. The strikes attacked the area around the Christian monastery of Deir Matta, close to the city of Mosul, where a camp was being set up for scientific observers from several Arab countries to watch today's eclipse, the agency said.
Earlier reports had stated that the strikes had injured two people in the north of the country and one in the south.
The US European Command based in Stuttgart, Germany, said earlier that allied aircraft had bombed two military communications sites north of Mosul after Iraqi air defences opened fire on them.