News / Africa
Gaddafi launches renewed air-strikes
05 Mar 2011 at 08:08hrs | Views
BREGA, Libya - Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi launched renewed airstrikes against two rebel-held towns yesterday, a day after citizens repelled a major government assault on the area.
Brega, a key oil port, was hit yesterday morning by at least three powerful airstrikes. There was also a strike near an army munitions storage unit just outside Ajdabiya, about 40 miles away. No casualties were reported in the airstrikes.
About 28 miles west of Brega, rebels clashed with Gaddafi loyalists yesterday in the Mediterranean coastal town of Bishra. Truckloads of rebel fighters left Benghazi to help their allies in Bishra. Details of the fighting there were not immediately available.
With Gaddafi's forces unable to recover key rebellious cities and towns, and with the ragtag rebel force of civilians and military defectors too weak to advance on Gaddafi's Tripoli stronghold, the two-week conflict appeared to be at a violent impasse.
"There is a sense that there is a patchwork of control across Libya," said a U.S. official who was tracking the crisis from Washington and spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. "The real question is: Can the opposition break through to Tripoli, or can Gaddafi break out? The odds are that he is going to have a hard time reclaiming areas that he has lost."
Governments across the Middle East, meanwhile, braced for what were expected to be massive pro-reform protests after mosques empty today. Friday is the Muslim day of prayer.
In The Hague, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court told reporters he would investigate Gaddafi and his inner circle for alleged crimes against humanity.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo vowed there would be "no impunity in Libya" and said he was contacting former Libyan officials and army officers to determine who would have ordered alleged attacks on peaceful demonstrators, the Associated Press reported. He said he is seeking video and photographic evidence of any alleged atrocities.
"We are not saying who is responsible yet," Moreno-Ocampo said. "Today is the start of the investigation."
Once the investigation is complete, Moreno-Ocampo will present his findings to the court's judges, who could issue arrest warrants. A regime spokesman, Musa Ibrahim, told the BBC that the court's investigation was "close to a joke" and based on news reports.
Also yesterday, officials said a Dutch helicopter crew attempting to evacuate people from Libya had been captured over the weekend by forces loyal to Gaddafi. The three marines and their helicopter are still being held by Libyan authorities, a Dutch Defense Ministry spokesman told the Associated Press. He said officials are in "intensive negotiations" to secure their release.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International and the U.N. refugee agency said Egyptian and Tunisian migrants have been targeted for attacks because the uprisings in their countries sparked the insurrection against Gaddafi.
Human Rights Watch has confirmed 237 people dead in Benghazi and 417 nationwide.
Brega, a key oil port, was hit yesterday morning by at least three powerful airstrikes. There was also a strike near an army munitions storage unit just outside Ajdabiya, about 40 miles away. No casualties were reported in the airstrikes.
About 28 miles west of Brega, rebels clashed with Gaddafi loyalists yesterday in the Mediterranean coastal town of Bishra. Truckloads of rebel fighters left Benghazi to help their allies in Bishra. Details of the fighting there were not immediately available.
With Gaddafi's forces unable to recover key rebellious cities and towns, and with the ragtag rebel force of civilians and military defectors too weak to advance on Gaddafi's Tripoli stronghold, the two-week conflict appeared to be at a violent impasse.
"There is a sense that there is a patchwork of control across Libya," said a U.S. official who was tracking the crisis from Washington and spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. "The real question is: Can the opposition break through to Tripoli, or can Gaddafi break out? The odds are that he is going to have a hard time reclaiming areas that he has lost."
Governments across the Middle East, meanwhile, braced for what were expected to be massive pro-reform protests after mosques empty today. Friday is the Muslim day of prayer.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo vowed there would be "no impunity in Libya" and said he was contacting former Libyan officials and army officers to determine who would have ordered alleged attacks on peaceful demonstrators, the Associated Press reported. He said he is seeking video and photographic evidence of any alleged atrocities.
"We are not saying who is responsible yet," Moreno-Ocampo said. "Today is the start of the investigation."
Once the investigation is complete, Moreno-Ocampo will present his findings to the court's judges, who could issue arrest warrants. A regime spokesman, Musa Ibrahim, told the BBC that the court's investigation was "close to a joke" and based on news reports.
Also yesterday, officials said a Dutch helicopter crew attempting to evacuate people from Libya had been captured over the weekend by forces loyal to Gaddafi. The three marines and their helicopter are still being held by Libyan authorities, a Dutch Defense Ministry spokesman told the Associated Press. He said officials are in "intensive negotiations" to secure their release.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International and the U.N. refugee agency said Egyptian and Tunisian migrants have been targeted for attacks because the uprisings in their countries sparked the insurrection against Gaddafi.
Human Rights Watch has confirmed 237 people dead in Benghazi and 417 nationwide.
Source - Byo24news
