Washington: Warplanes from a US-British coalition struck an air defence command and control facility in Southern Iraq on September 9, the latest of a series of retaliatory attacks, the US military said.

The US Central Command said the airstrike was "in response to recent Iraqi hostile acts against coalition aircraft monitoring the Southern no-fly zone".

"Operation Southern Watch coalition aircraft used precision guided weapons today to strike an air defence command and control facility near Al Amarah, approximately 270 km South East of Baghdad, at 01:30 am (1100 IST)," the Command said.

The attack followed an airstrike on September 7 against a military communications facility near Al Kut in Southern Iraq.

The no-fly zones were imposed in Southern and Northern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War to prevent Iraqi attacks on Kurdish and Shiite minorities and on neighboring states.