The US and British planes returned to their bases safely, Pentagon officials said.

At the White House, a senior administration official said that Iraq fired the surface-to-air missiles at the British aircraft. US aircraft responded by firing several missiles and laser-guided munitions at the Iraqi air defence station.

President Bill Clinton, who is travelling to South Carolina, was to be briefed by national security council advisers later in the day.

A British bomber first reported the activity at about 9:30 am local time (6.30 am GMT) near Talil, Iraq. "They visually detected firing. They took evasive action to avoid the missiles," said Major Joe Lamarca, a spokesman for the US central command, responsible for American forces in the Persian Gulf, at Macdill air force base in Tampa, Florida. "I don'tknow for sure what they (the Iraqis) were firing at, but common sense would tell you that they were firing at the (British) aircraft."

Two US F-16 bombers patrolling the area responded and fired two anti-radar missiles and a number of precision-guided bombs onto the site at 10.15 am (7.15 am GMT), a Pentagon spokesman said. The aircraft safely left the area about a half hour later.

Iraq said the aircraft fire killed a farmer and wounded two other civilians.

The statement, carried by the official Iraqi news agency, made no mention of military casualties.