NATO takes over enforcing no-fly zone in Libya

FE Team | Published: March 29, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

NAPLES (Italy), Mar 28 (news agencies): NATO has taken over enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya, the general in charge of operations told reporters on Monday at the Allied Joint Force Command in Naples in southern Italy. "Yesterday NATO aircraft flew the first no-fly zone enforcement over Libya," said General Charles Bouchard, who was appointed on Friday to head the operation codenamed "Operation Unified Protector". Bouchard added that the broader military mission in Libya was still transitioning to NATO from the Western-led coalition that began attacking Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's forces on March 19. "The broader the effort the more powerful the message we send to the Libyan people who are desperate for our help," Bouchard said. "We will be acting in close coordination with our international and regional partners to protect the people of Libya," he added. Reports by agencies from Bin Jawad and Tripoli in Libya adds: Coalition air raids have hit Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte, a key target for westward-advancing rebels. A Libyan government spokesman said three Libyan civilians had been killed in the city's port. Unconfirmed rumours that rebels had taken Sirte sparked celebratory gunfire overnight in their stronghold Benghazi. Foreign correspondents in Sirte said they heard several loud explosions in the city as aircraft flew overhead. A rebel spokesman in Benghazi said Sirte was now in the hands of rebel forces -- but there has been no independent confirmation of the claim, and international journalists inside the city suggested it was still in government hands on Monday. Meanwhile, Qatar became the first Arab nation to recognise the rebel leadership -- the Transitional National Council -- as the official representatives of the Libyan people. Heavy explosions were also heard in the capital city of Libya - Tripoli -- late on Sunday. Libyan officials say more than a week of strikes have killed nearly 100 civilians but this cannot be independently confirmed. The air strikes, intended to prevent Col Gaddafi's forces from attacking civilian targets among the uprising against his rule, have allowed rebel forces to push westwards at a rapid speed along the coastal highway from their eastern stronghold of Benghazi. O ver the weekend, a number of coastal communities and important oil installations, including Ras Lanuf, Brega, Uqayla and Bin Jawad, fell to the rebels. On Monday, rebels said they had seized the town of Nawfaliyah, west of Bin Jawad, extending their advance towards Sirte, some 120km (75 miles) away, Reuters reported. Sirte lies about halfway along the coast between Tripoli and Benghazi. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that attacks on pro-Gaddafi forces amounted to intervention in a civil war, and were not backed by the UN Security Council resolution. There were also internal disagreements -- notably between France and Turkey -- about political control of the mission, but they have now been resolved. The battle for Misrata, the last significant rebel-held city in western Libya, has continued, with Gaddafi forces reportedly shelling the city on Monday. Pick-ups flying the green flag of Tripoli and mounted with heavy machine guns opened up on the rebels who replied with "Stalin organ" multiple rocket launchers and cannon fire. A salvo of shells from Gaddafi's forces slammed into sand dunes near Bin Jawad and a rebel fighter fell. A 10-minute incoming artillery barrage panicked the thousand or so rebels along the road outside Bin Jawad, sending them fleeing in disorder. Had Gaddafi's guns hit the road proper, there would have been a massacre among the insurgents, some of whom were armed only with shotguns.