NATO launches largest airstrike against Gaddafi
TRIPOLI, Libya — NATO launched its largest airstrike against Moammar Gaddafi’s regime on Tuesday morning, with at least 15 massive explosions rocking the Libyan capital.
The bombings appeared concentrated on Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli, although a government spokesman said the airstrike had targeted the headquarters of a militia force..
Spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said at least three people had been killed and 150 injured.
NATO planes and ships have been striking cities and military installations in Libya since mid-March. Allied military officials have spoken in recent weeks of the need for escalation to help protect Libyan civilians and have called for Gaddafi to step down.
Libyan officials have said that NATO is picking sides in a civil war and complained that strikes on Gaddafi’s Tripoli compound are attempts to assassinate the leader of a sovereign country.
French officials said Monday that France and Britain planned to deploy attack helicopters. Such a move would allow greater accuracy in military action in the months-long conflict but would probably put their troops at higher risk.
The French defense minister, Gerard Longuet, told reporters in Brussels that the helicopters would be used against Libyan military equipment while trying to avoid civilian casualties, the Associated Press reported. Longuet said that British military officials were on “exactly the same wavelength” as the French.
Allied officials have expressed worry that the situation in Libya would become a stalemate, with Gaddafi remaining in power in the west, rebels controlling the east, and a contested area in between.
Moussa did not respond Monday to calls for comment about the helicopters.
Libyan rebels got another boost Monday when Jeffrey Feltman, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, their de facto capital of Benghazi, in the eastern part of the country.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Feltman would address questions Tuesday about legally recognizing the rebels as the legitimate leaders of Libya but played down the possibility of a major policy change.
“We believe the [rebel Transitional National Council] is a very credible voice for the Libyan people, and we’re strengthening our contacts and deepening them,” Toner said. “But while recognition remains on the table, an option, we’re not there yet.”
In the meantime, he said, the administration would work with Congress to pass legislation to free up Libyan money for the rebels.
Longuet told reporters that France would use Gazelle helicopters, the Associated Press reported. During fighting in Misurata, a rebel-held city in western Libya that is under siege by government forces, the Libyan military moved into crowded areas, making it difficult for NATO to strike targets without risking significant civilian casualties. Helicopters would make it easier to attack military forces in those situations.
Improved accuracy is the goal of the helicopter deployment, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told reporters in Brussels.
No NATO military personnel have died in Libya during the operation, and there have been relatively few civilian deaths, something that even Libyan officials privately acknowledge.
In response to a question about helicopters, a spokesman for the French Defense Ministry, speaking under European ground rules that do not allow the use of names, said that a ship had been deployed to the Mediterranean on May 17, but provided no specifics.
A NATO spokesman at mission headquarters in Naples said that the alliance is not involved in coordinating any helicopter attacks, and that any helicopter use would be under national control. He spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing alliance regulations.
Western officials have called in recent weeks for putting greater pressure on the Libyan government, and Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, said at a news conference in London on Monday that “Britain is committed to intensifying military, economic and diplomatic action against the Gaddafi regime in the coming weeks.” He declined to comment about helicopters.
Staff writer Joby Warrick in Washington and special correspondent Karla Adam in London contributed to this report.
0 Comment:
Post a Comment