US and British warplanes raided southern Iraq today, destroying homes, the official Iraqi news agency said.
But in London a British Ministry of Defence spokesman denied the report, saying: "There is absolutely no truth in this statement from Iraqi news agencies". A White House spokesman also denied the report.
Iraq's INA news agency said the planes fired missiles on targets 170 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad. INA reported no casualties but said the raid destroyed houses and caused panic among civilians.
"American and British planes fired randomly missiles which destroyed several homes and scared civilians, including children, while they were practising their daily life," INA said.
The agency said the new aggression proves the bloody nature and savagery of rulers in Washington and London and that the two governments were the cause of what happened to their people in Tuesday's suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
"Their people are suffering from their criminal behaviour and desire to rule and control the world despite international rejection", INA said.
US and British warplanes - which carry out frequent air strikes against what Washington and London say are military targets in Iraq - patrol northern and southern no-fly zones imposed after the 1991 Gulf War that drove Iraqi invasion troops out of Kuwait.