U.S. Ambushes Iraqi Jets : F-15s Down at Least 2 Fighters Before They Can Flee to Iran

DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia —  U.S. jet fighters shot down at least two Iraqi warplanes in the punishing air war on Iraq, a U.S. military spokesman said today.

Two Iraqi Soviet-made SU-25s--among the best in Saddam Hussein’s air force--were intercepted and shot down as they tried to flee to Iran, Marine Brig. Gen. Richard I. Neal said in Riyadh.

He said two MIG-21s also appeared to have been shot down in the ambush by two U.S. Air Force F-15E fighter jets. Earlier, U.S. and Saudi military officials reported four Iraqi warplanes had been downed and three other Iraqi fighters managed to reach Iran.

Neal said at least 20 Iraqi fighter planes have fled to Iran in the last 48 hours, meaning a total of about 120 of Hussein’s best jets have apparently sought refuge there.

Late today, Iraq announced it was severing diplomatic relations with the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Warplanes from all the countries except Egypt have made air attacks on Iraq. Egypt has 35,000 troops in Saudi Arabia--the largest Arab force in the coalition assembled against Iraq.

All the countries in the anti-Iraq coalition that had embassies in Iraq have already withdrawn their diplomats from Baghdad. But Iraq had maintained missions in Washington and other coalition capitals.

In the last 24 hours, Neal said, U.S. F-14 Tomcats destroyed an Iraqi helicopter, the battleship Missouri knocked out two artillery emplacements and damaged four others, and 23 more Iraqi soldiers surrendered--including two officers.

Neal added that the relentless allied bombing was taking a toll on Iraqi troops. Of the Iraqi POWs, he said, “their morale seems to be low, they’re not being fed enough, they’re lice-infested . . . they’re sick of this day-in, day-out air campaign.”

Meanwhile, Pentagon sources said a U.S. Marine task force is maneuvering into position after a practice seaborne attack on the southern shore of the Arabian peninsula.

The task force--made up of about 17,000 Marines--is “slowly working its way north,” one Marine Corps officer said.

In Baghdad, meanwhile, officials said the allies carried out 281 air raids and missile attacks overnight and today, including intensive bombing of residential areas.

Iraq claimed its artillery fire had killed 40 allied soldiers and wounded 38 today near Hafr al-Batin in northeastern Saudi Arabia. Allied commanders gave no report of a clash inside Saudi Arabia during briefings today.

The Iraqis said that in the southern Iraqi city of Nassariyah, about 150 people--including 35 children--were killed by the air assault.