A spokesman for Central Command, which is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida and oversees U.S. military operations in the Gulf, said only U.S. planes were involved in the attack.
British aircraft help enforce the no-fly zone.
Hornets were used in the attack, the first since May 18 against Iraqi targets in the south. All the aircraft returned safely, he said. Western powers established zones in the north and south of Iraq to help protect minority groups from attack by President Saddam Hussein's forces following the Gulf War. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday that improvements by Iraqi defenses had increased the risk of a U.S. plane being shot down. U.S. military commanders overseeing operations over Iraq have said it might be necessary to cut back on the enforcement flights in the face of increasing and more effective attacks on them from the ground.