The Iraqi News Agency (INA) said a number of civilian installations and Iraqi air defences were attacked.

The agency quoted a military spokesman saying two women were among the injured, but did not say whether any of the other dead or wounded were civilians.

He said the deaths had occurred in an attack on al-Sannia village, near the town of Diwaniya, about 180 km (110 miles) south of Baghdad.

"The hostile formations were engaged by our missile and brave ground resistance forces and forced to flee and leave our airspace towards Saudi Arabia and Kuwait," the spokesman said.

There was no immediate confirmation of the incident from Washington or London.

No-fly zone dispute

Air strikes against Iraqi military targets became commonplace after Baghdad decided in December to attack US and UK jets patrolling the no-fly zones in the north and south of Iraq.

The no-fly zones were established after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurds in the north and Shi'a Muslims in the south from possible attack by Baghdad's forces. Kurdish population.

Iraq does not recognise the legitimacy of the no-fly zones and has vowed to oppose them.