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Allied air strikes halt Libyan army
West's largest Arab world intervention since Iraq; Gaddafi vows 'long war'
TRIPOLI: European and American forces unleashed warplanes and cruise missiles against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's troops yesterday, in the biggest Western military intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The strikes halted the advance of Colonel Gaddafi's forces on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
A no-fly zone is now in place over Libya, with government air defences 'taken out' and no sign of Libyan aircraft in flight, the United States Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told NBC.
The aerial assault left burnt and shattered remains of tanks and troop carriers littering the main road outside the rebel stronghold. The charred bodies of at least 14 government soldiers lay scattered in the desert.
But a defiant Col Gaddafi vowed a 'long war' and a fight to the death after the US and European militaries blasted his forces, hitting air defences and at least two major air bases early yesterday.
'We will not leave our land and we will liberate it,' the Libyan leader declared on state television. 'We will remain alive and you will all die.'
A Libyan government health official yesterday put the death toll from the Western air strikes at 64. But it was impossible to independently verify the reports as government minders refused to take Western reporters in the capital to the site of the bombings.
Col Gaddafi's troops also lashed back, bombarding the rebel-held western city of Misrata with artillery and tanks yesterday, the opposition reported.
Operation Odyssey Dawn came as Col Gaddafi's overwhelming firepower was threatening to crush the month-old rebellion against his 41-year rule.
The aerial assault by missiles and warplanes hit one of Libya's main air bases on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli, the opposition said. Also hit was an air force complex outside Misrata, which has been under siege the past week by government forces.
French planes fired the first shots on Saturday, destroying tanks and armoured vehicles near Benghazi in a United Nations-endorsed intervention to force Col Gaddafi's troops to cease fire and end attacks on civilians who launched an uprising last month.
France also sent an aircraft carrier towards Libya, and its planes were over the country again yesterday, defence officials said.
Britain said its planes had targeted Libya's air defences mainly around Tripoli.
In all, US and British warships and submarines launched 112 Tomahawk missiles overnight against air defences around Tripoli and Misrata, US military officials said yesterday.
They hit 20 out of 22 targets, causing 'various levels of damage', Lieutenant Commander James Stockman, a spokesman at US Africa Command, told reporters yesterday. Possible damage at two other sites was being assessed, he added.
The assault against Libya is the biggest Western military intervention in the Arab world since the invasion of Iraq began exactly eight years ago.
But their day-old efforts ran into a serious diplomatic setback yesterday when Arab League chief Amr Moussa condemned the 'bombardment of civilians'.
Mr Moussa said what was happening was not what Arabs had envisaged when they called for the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya.
'What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians,' he said, adding that he was calling for an emergency Arab League meeting.
Libyan state television showed footage from an unidentified hospital of what it called victims of the 'colonial enemy'. Ten bodies were wrapped up in white and blue bed sheets, and several people were wounded, one of them badly, the report said.
Arab backing for a no-fly zone provided crucial underpinning for the passage of the UN Security Council resolution last week that paved the way for the Western intervention. Withdrawal of that support would make it much harder to pursue what some defence analysts say could in any case be a difficult, open-ended campaign with an uncertain outcome.
China and Russia, which abstained in the UN Security Council vote last week endorsing intervention, both expressed regret at the military action.
Admiral Mullen acknowledged yesterday that the endgame of military action was 'very uncertain' and that it could end in a stalemate with Col Gaddafi.
The initial air and sea strikes had stopped his forces in their tracks and the aim now was to cut off their logistical support.
'We're in a situation now that what we do will depend to some degree on what he does,' Admiral Mullen said yesterday.
REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
West's largest Arab world intervention since Iraq; Gaddafi vows 'long war'
TRIPOLI: European and American forces unleashed warplanes and cruise missiles against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's troops yesterday, in the biggest Western military intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The strikes halted the advance of Colonel Gaddafi's forces on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
A no-fly zone is now in place over Libya, with government air defences 'taken out' and no sign of Libyan aircraft in flight, the United States Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told NBC.
The aerial assault left burnt and shattered remains of tanks and troop carriers littering the main road outside the rebel stronghold. The charred bodies of at least 14 government soldiers lay scattered in the desert.
But a defiant Col Gaddafi vowed a 'long war' and a fight to the death after the US and European militaries blasted his forces, hitting air defences and at least two major air bases early yesterday.
'We will not leave our land and we will liberate it,' the Libyan leader declared on state television. 'We will remain alive and you will all die.'
A Libyan government health official yesterday put the death toll from the Western air strikes at 64. But it was impossible to independently verify the reports as government minders refused to take Western reporters in the capital to the site of the bombings.
Col Gaddafi's troops also lashed back, bombarding the rebel-held western city of Misrata with artillery and tanks yesterday, the opposition reported.
Operation Odyssey Dawn came as Col Gaddafi's overwhelming firepower was threatening to crush the month-old rebellion against his 41-year rule.
The aerial assault by missiles and warplanes hit one of Libya's main air bases on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli, the opposition said. Also hit was an air force complex outside Misrata, which has been under siege the past week by government forces.
French planes fired the first shots on Saturday, destroying tanks and armoured vehicles near Benghazi in a United Nations-endorsed intervention to force Col Gaddafi's troops to cease fire and end attacks on civilians who launched an uprising last month.
France also sent an aircraft carrier towards Libya, and its planes were over the country again yesterday, defence officials said.
Britain said its planes had targeted Libya's air defences mainly around Tripoli.
In all, US and British warships and submarines launched 112 Tomahawk missiles overnight against air defences around Tripoli and Misrata, US military officials said yesterday.
They hit 20 out of 22 targets, causing 'various levels of damage', Lieutenant Commander James Stockman, a spokesman at US Africa Command, told reporters yesterday. Possible damage at two other sites was being assessed, he added.
The assault against Libya is the biggest Western military intervention in the Arab world since the invasion of Iraq began exactly eight years ago.
But their day-old efforts ran into a serious diplomatic setback yesterday when Arab League chief Amr Moussa condemned the 'bombardment of civilians'.
Mr Moussa said what was happening was not what Arabs had envisaged when they called for the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya.
'What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians,' he said, adding that he was calling for an emergency Arab League meeting.
Libyan state television showed footage from an unidentified hospital of what it called victims of the 'colonial enemy'. Ten bodies were wrapped up in white and blue bed sheets, and several people were wounded, one of them badly, the report said.
Arab backing for a no-fly zone provided crucial underpinning for the passage of the UN Security Council resolution last week that paved the way for the Western intervention. Withdrawal of that support would make it much harder to pursue what some defence analysts say could in any case be a difficult, open-ended campaign with an uncertain outcome.
China and Russia, which abstained in the UN Security Council vote last week endorsing intervention, both expressed regret at the military action.
Admiral Mullen acknowledged yesterday that the endgame of military action was 'very uncertain' and that it could end in a stalemate with Col Gaddafi.
The initial air and sea strikes had stopped his forces in their tracks and the aim now was to cut off their logistical support.
'We're in a situation now that what we do will depend to some degree on what he does,' Admiral Mullen said yesterday.
REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
