http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nato-steps-up-bombing-in-libya-rebels-re
port-gains/2011/05/10/AF8GsehG_story.html

 


NATO steps up bombing in Libya; rebels report gains


 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/france-says-london-will-host-political-
talks-next-week-on-libyas-future/2011/03/23/ABUKXew_gallery.html>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2011/05
/10/Foreign/Advance/Images/5-10Libya010-2033.jpg


By Michael Birnbaum, Tuesday, May 10, 11:50 AM


TRIPOLI, Libya - NATO increased its bombing operations against Tripoli on
Tuesday, carrying out the largest attacks in weeks as rebels appeared to
make advances in their efforts to break the siege of the key western city of
Misurata.

The attacks on Tripoli occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Jets
could be heard booming over the city. Several large explosions followed, and
NATO said its warplanes hit three "command-and-control" targets in the
capital. NATO said its airstrikes also hit targets in Mizdah, a town 114
miles south of Tripoli; Sirte, a stronghold of Moammar Gaddafi on the Gulf
of Sidra; and Misurata, a port 131 miles east of Tripoli and the only
rebel-held city in the western part of the country.

 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/map-tracking-events-in-libya/2011/03/07
/AFsjae3C_graphic.html> Follow how events are unfolding in Libya.

Follow how events are unfolding in Libya.

The Libyan government took journalists to a hospital in central Tripoli that
was next door to a government office building apparently hit by the attacks.
Residents and workers there said the building was either a communications or
intelligence center, although a government minder said it was currently used
by the Agriculture Ministry.

"We are diminishing Gaddafi's capacity to issue orders, to field troops and
to fly regime jets," Italian Brig. Gen. Claudio Gabellini, the chief
operations officer of the NATO campaign, said in a news conference in Naples
on Tuesday.

The hospital also sustained damage, with some blown-out windows and damaged
light fixtures. Government minders said one child was cut by broken glass,
but they would not allow journalists to see the child, saying that he was in
intensive care.

Elsewhere in Tripoli, NATO apparently hit a library and school site that
workers said was the World Center for Study and Research of the Green Book,
Gaddafi's eccentric founding document for the country. The colonial-era
building had apparently sustained a direct hit, and clouds of concrete dust
billowed above the remains of what workers said had been the library.

"This is not a military place," said Hosin Bangarza, a worker there.

The building is about 30 yards from a large communications tower, which was
not hit in the raid, and is part of the same complex as the Libyan
parliament, government workers said. The same building was hit just over a
week ago.

At least five bombings could be heard over the course of the night. Smoke
could also be seen coming from the direction of Gaddafi's compound, although
it was not clear whether it had been hit. Government officials refused to
specify other bombing sites.

"All NATO targets are military targets," Gabellini said. He denied that the
alliance was trying to kill Gaddafi. He said nearly 6,000 sorties have been
flown since the NATO air campaign began at the end of March.

East of Tripoli, rebels appeared to make gains, pushing westward along the
coast from Misurata, according to residents reached by Skype who asked to
remain anonymous to preserve their safety.

Rebel officials in Benghazi, the de facto rebel capital in eastern Libya,
said heavy fighting took place Monday between the oil terminal of Brega and
the strategic city of Ajdabiya. 

Special correspondent Portia Walker in Ajdabiya, Libya, contributed to this
report.

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------------------

--------------------------
Want to discuss this topic?  Head on over to our discussion list, 
[email protected].
--------------------------
Brooks Isoldi, editor
[email protected]

http://www.intellnet.org

  Post message: [email protected]
  Subscribe:    [email protected]
  Unsubscribe:  [email protected]


*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has 
not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of 
The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT 
YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the 
included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of 
intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, 
techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other 
intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes 
only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material 
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use 
this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' 
you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    [email protected] 
    [email protected]

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    [email protected]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Reply via email to