Western air strikes fail to dislodge Gaddafi armor - Report
March 24, 2011 02:18 pm
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Western warplanes hit Libya for a fifth night on Thursday, but so far have failed to stop Muammar Gaddafi’s tanks shelling rebel-held towns or dislodge his armor from a strategic junction in the east.
Gaddafi’s tanks rolled back into Misrata under the cover of darkness and began shelling the area near the main hospital, residents and rebels said, resuming their attack after their guns were silenced in daylight hours by Western airstrikes.
Government snipers in the city, Libya’s third largest, were undeterred by the bombing raids though and had carried on firing indiscriminately throughout, residents said. A rebel spokesman said the snipers had killed 16 people.
“Government tanks are closing in on Misrata hospital and shelling the area,” said a doctor in Misrata who was briefly reached by phone before the line was cut off.
It was impossible to independently verify the reports.
A loud explosion was heard in the Libyan capital Tripoli early on Thursday and smoke could be seen rising from an area where a military base is situated.
Libyan officials took journalists to a Tripoli hospital early on Thursday to see what they said were the charred bodies of 18 military personnel and civilians killed by Western warplanes or missiles overnight.
The U.S. military said it had successfully established a no-fly zone over Libya’s coastal areas and had moved on to attack Gaddafi’s tanks. The allies flew 175 sorties in 24 hours, with the U.S. flying 113 of those, a U.S. commander said.
Britain said on Thursday it had launched guided Tomahawk missiles from a Trafalgar class submarine at air defense targets as part of the coalition plan to enforce the resolution.
French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said France had destroyed some 10 Libyan armored vehicles over three days.
The U.N. Security Council resolution he said, “stipulates that the coalition has all means available to protect the civilians. What’s threatening the population today is the tanks and artillery,” he said in an interview with Le Figaro.
The Libyan government denies its army is conducting any offensive operations and says troops are only defending themselves when they come under attack.
But a resident in Zintan, southwest of Tripoli said Gaddafi forces were bringing up more troops and tanks to bombard the rebel-held town. Rebel forces in the east meanwhile were still pinned down outside the strategic junction at Ajdabiyah after more than three days of trying to recapture it.
Libyan state television said Western planes had struck in Tripoli and in Jafar, southwest of the capital.
“Military and civilian targets were attacked by colonialist crusaders,” the television said.