European and American unleashed warplanes against Libya

[postnew]

Rebels fire rockets as they return fire towards forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi near Brega in eastern Libya, March 31, 2011.​

 

[postnew]

Rebels run for cover from artillery fired by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi near Brega in eastern Libya, March 31, 2011. Rebels massed outside Brega on Thursday and said their forces were still fighting Muammar Gaddafi's troops for control of the east Libya oil town.​

 

[postnew]

Libya's Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa is seen speaking during a news conference at a hotel housing the foreign press in Tripoli in this March 7, 2011 file photograph. Koussa, one of Muammar Gaddafi's closest advisers and a former spy chief, defected and flew to Britain on Wednesday in protest at attacks by Gaddafi forces on civilians, a friend said.​

 

[postnew]

A Turkish ship carrying 250 wounded people from the besieged Libyan city of Misrata arrives at a port in Benghazi April 3, 2011. The white ferry Ankara, which the Turkish government chartered and turned into a hospital ship, docked in the eastern Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Sunday to pick up more wounded. The ship will later head on to a port in Turkey where a field hospital had been set up.​

Apr 4, 2011
Ship brings rare glimpse of Libya's bloodiest front

BENGHAZI (Libya) - THE wounded men on the aid ship from the besieged city of Misrata, most of them torn apart by shrapnel and bullets, tell of the bloodiest front in the revolt against Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.

They speak of a city under lockdown that has gone weeks without electricity or running water, where snipers have cleared the centre and mortar rounds and rockets rain down at random on residents huddled inside their homes.

The more than 250 patients were brought on Sunday to the rebel port of Benghazi on board a Turkish aid ship, which was to pick up another 100 or so wounded people from the eastern front before steaming on to the Turkish port of Cesme.

On board, a pale Mohammed Muftah, 34, describes how he was sitting at home on a quiet Friday morning when a barrage of mortar rounds fired by Gaddafi's forces slammed into his residential neighbourhood.

'They killed entire families, women. I have a neighbour who lost his wife and his three children,' he said. 'They did it just to terrorise people.' Mr Muftah has shrapnel wounds up and down his legs and in his back and neck, but soon he will receive further treatment in Turkey. His wife and six children are still in Misrata.

Mohammed Ahmed, who sits on the mattress next to his, has a thick bandage around his right arm with surgical pins sticking out. He was standing outside his home with friends and neighbours when a mortar bomb exploded next to them, the shrapnel killing six of his neighbours and carving off most of his upper arm. 'The doctor said it's serious... it's down to the bone,' he said. 'I'm with the revolution, but I don't have a gun,' he said, as tears streamed down his face and his voice broke into sobs. -- AFP

 

[postnew]

A Turkish ship carrying 250 wounded people from the besieged Libyan city of Misrata arrives at a port in Benghazi April 3, 2011. The white ferry Ankara, which the Turkish government chartered and turned into a hospital ship, docked in the eastern Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Sunday to pick up more wounded.​

 

[postnew]

Injured men rest inside a Turkish ship carrying 250 wounded people from the besieged Libyan city of Misrata, at a port in Benghazi April 3, 2011.

An injured man flashes a victory sign inside a Turkish ship carrying wounded people from the besieged Libyan city of Misrata, at a port in Benghazi April 3, 2011​

.

 

[postnew]

Men hold onto a Turkish flag as they look out from the deck of a Turkish ship..

Libyans hold up flowers to welcome a Turkish ship arriving from Misrata to the port of Benghazi to evacuate the wounded on April 03, 2011.​

 

[postnew]

New volunteer rebel fighters receive training on how to use a heavy machine gun at a military camp in Benghazi April 3, 2011.

Libyan civilians are seen at a rebel training camp during instruction on weapon use by former officers in the Libyan army who defected in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, eastern Libya on April 03, 2011.
According to media sources, Libyan rebels were on the retreat on Wednesday, after losing ground overnight to Muammar Gaddafi's forces. Rebels retreated from Bin Jawad and Brega as Libyan armed forces pushed forward to retake the strategic towns. Gaddafi's forces also routed rebels from the nearby oil port of Ras Lanuf, pushing the front line further eastward.​

 

[postnew]

Libyans look at images and photographs of citizens killed or gone missing in the eastern rebel strong hold of Benghazi, six weeks into the armed uprising by many Libyans against the regime of leader Moamer Kadhafi and his forces loyal to him, on April 3, 2011.​

 

[postnew]

Rashid Khalikov, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Libya, speaks to the media in Tunis April 3, 2011. The United Nations is talking to all parties in the Libyan conflict to provide aid to those in need "as soon as possible", an envoy said on Sunday.​

 

[postnew]

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal (R) escorts his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Mohammad Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah upon their arrival to attend the extraordinary meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Foreign Ministers, on April 3, 2011 in Riyadh, during which they will discuss situation in the Gulf area and Yemen as well as Libya.​

 

[postnew]

Rebel fighters shoot the tires out of a vehicle, unseen, belonging to Gadhafi's forces as it sped through the rebel front line, east of Brega, Libya, Sunday, April 3, 2011

A young boy who said he had spent two days in besieged Brega and stolen a vehicle belonging to Gadhafi's forces in order to return to the rebel side, is questioned by rebel fighters near the front line east of Brega, Libya Sunday, April 3, 2011. Rebel fighters shot the tires out of the vehicle as it sped through the front line but released the boy after listening to his story.​

 

[postnew]

Libyan rebels shell pro Gadhafi positions just outside Brega, Libya, Sunday, April 3, 2011.​

 

[postnew]

Rebel fighters pray near to the front line east of Brega, Libya Sunday, April 3, 2011.

Libyan rebels and journalists run for cover as pro Gadhafi forces shell rebel positions just outside Brega, Libya, Sunday, April 3, 2011. Libyan rebels want to install a parliamentary democracy in place of longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi, one of their top leaders said Sunday, dismissing Western fears that their movement could be hijacked by Islamic extremists.​

 

[postnew]

A rocket believed to have been fired by Moamer Kadhafi loyalists leaves a trail of smoke during street battles with Libyan rebels (R) near Brega on April 3, 2011.

Rebel fighters look across at a rocket landing near to the front line east of Brega, Libya Sunday, April 3, 2011.
​

 

[postnew]

Air Force AC-130 gunships.
U.S. aircraft currently account for 90 of the 206 planes deployed by NATO in the Libyan conflict
​

Apr 4, 2011

US to withdraw strike jets from Libya mission

BRUSSELS - THE US military will pull its warplanes from front-line missions Monday and shift to a support role in the Libyan conflict, a Nato official said.

Britain, France and other Nato allies will now provide the fighter and attack jets to conduct intercept and ground attack missions as they enforce a no-fly zone over this North African country.
The hand-over is expected to take place later on Monday, a Nato official said.
'There won't be a capabilities gap,' said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of regulations.
Last week, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told Congress the US would continue to provide assets that others don't have in sufficient numbers. These will likely include AWACS air surveillance planes, electronic reconnaissance aircraft and aerial refueling tankers.
American air power - including Air Force AC-130 gunships and A-10 Thunderbolts and Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers - will still be available to back up the allies in case of need. -- AP

 

[postnew]

Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, son of Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi, are reportedly proposing a transition to a constitutional democracy that would include their father's removal from power.​

 

[postnew]

Civilians from Brega flee towards Zwatiniya, north of Ajdabiyah April 4, 2011.
​

 

[postnew]

Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi arrives at the office of Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in Valletta April 4, 2011. Al-Obeidi arrived in Malta late Monday night as envoy of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi after visiting Greece and Turkey in a bid to secure a diplomatic solution to the Libya crisis.​

 

[postnew]

Mohammed Ismail (R), a key figure in Colonel Moamer Kadhafi's regime, walks with Libyan officials at the lobby at the lobby of the hotel where international journalists are lodged in Tripoli early on April 5, 2011. Ismail was sent by the Libyan regime to London to discuss a way out to the crisis.​