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NATO jets batter pro-Gadhafi targets
Source: Agencies |
September 14, 2011, Wednesday
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NATO warplanes pounded targets in a number of strongholds of support for Moammar Gadhafi, the alliance said yesterday, as an offensive by revolutionary forces on a key loyalist town stalled.
The military alliance said that airstrikes struck one radar system, eight surface-to-air missile systems, five surface-to-air missile trailers, one armed vehicle and two command vehicles on Monday near Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast.
NATO, which has played a crucial role in crippling Gadhafi's military capabilities over the seven-month Libyan civil war, also said it struck six tanks and two armored fighting vehicles in Sabha in the southern desert.
Those two cities, along with Bani Walid southeast of the capital Tripoli, are the primary bastions of Gadhafi loyalists remaining in the country more than three weeks after revolutionary forces captured Tripoli on August 21, effectively bringing an end to Gadhafi's nearly 42-year rule.
The ousted former leader, whose whereabouts are unknown, urged his followers on Monday in a brief message read on Syria's al-Rai TV to keep fighting.
Gadhafi's supporters, who claim he is still in Libya, have put up fierce resistance in Bani Walid, 140 kilometers southeast of Tripoli, beating back repeated attempts by revolutionary forces to take the town since launching a two-pronged assault last Friday.
The former rebels say they have captured the northern half of Bani Walid, but they have struggled to push farther into the city for several days.
Families continued to stream out of Bani Walid yesterday to escape the heavy fighting and deteriorating living conditions. Fleeing residents say there is no electricity or running water in the town, and shops are running out of food.
Saad Mohammed, a Libyan fighter preparing for the day at the town's northern gate, said snipers were taking up positions in the minaret of a mosque in the town center, as well as a former Gadhafi villa built on the top of an ancient fort.
"We're giving a chance for the families to leave the city to escape the mortar rounds and rocketing from the Gadhafi loyalists," he said.
Also yesterday, Canada, which has played a major role in the NATO-led air campaign against Gadhafi's military forces, said it will reopen its embassy in the Libyan capital.
Foreign Minister John Baird said a small team of diplomats arrived in Tripoli last weekend to conduct a security assessment and that Canada will establish a temporary embassy while the old one is renovated.
Baird added that Canada will resume trade with Libya and that it has secured an exemption with the United Nations to unfreeze more than US$2 billion in assets for humanitarian aid in Libya.
The military alliance said that airstrikes struck one radar system, eight surface-to-air missile systems, five surface-to-air missile trailers, one armed vehicle and two command vehicles on Monday near Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast.
NATO, which has played a crucial role in crippling Gadhafi's military capabilities over the seven-month Libyan civil war, also said it struck six tanks and two armored fighting vehicles in Sabha in the southern desert.
Those two cities, along with Bani Walid southeast of the capital Tripoli, are the primary bastions of Gadhafi loyalists remaining in the country more than three weeks after revolutionary forces captured Tripoli on August 21, effectively bringing an end to Gadhafi's nearly 42-year rule.
The ousted former leader, whose whereabouts are unknown, urged his followers on Monday in a brief message read on Syria's al-Rai TV to keep fighting.
Gadhafi's supporters, who claim he is still in Libya, have put up fierce resistance in Bani Walid, 140 kilometers southeast of Tripoli, beating back repeated attempts by revolutionary forces to take the town since launching a two-pronged assault last Friday.
The former rebels say they have captured the northern half of Bani Walid, but they have struggled to push farther into the city for several days.
Families continued to stream out of Bani Walid yesterday to escape the heavy fighting and deteriorating living conditions. Fleeing residents say there is no electricity or running water in the town, and shops are running out of food.
Saad Mohammed, a Libyan fighter preparing for the day at the town's northern gate, said snipers were taking up positions in the minaret of a mosque in the town center, as well as a former Gadhafi villa built on the top of an ancient fort.
"We're giving a chance for the families to leave the city to escape the mortar rounds and rocketing from the Gadhafi loyalists," he said.
Also yesterday, Canada, which has played a major role in the NATO-led air campaign against Gadhafi's military forces, said it will reopen its embassy in the Libyan capital.
Foreign Minister John Baird said a small team of diplomats arrived in Tripoli last weekend to conduct a security assessment and that Canada will establish a temporary embassy while the old one is renovated.
Baird added that Canada will resume trade with Libya and that it has secured an exemption with the United Nations to unfreeze more than US$2 billion in assets for humanitarian aid in Libya.
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