Libyan town quiet after a night of coalition airstrikes
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 23, 2011 -- Updated 1551 GMT (2351 HKT)
Preparing for battle in Libya
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Fierce fighting between pro- and anti-Gadhafi forces reported in
Ajdabiya
In Misrata, many shops open for the first time in a week, witnesses say
The United States has conducted 28 air strikes and the coalition 26 more, a
military official says
The Libyan defense system is so degraded that manned aircraft can now take
over, official says
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Relief came Wednesday in the besieged western Libyan
town of Misrata after a night of coalition airstrikes that witnesses said
targeted encampments of forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.
But the battle on the ground between pro- and anti-Gadhafi forces was far from
over as evidenced by fierce clashes in the eastern town of Ajdabiya, where the
opposition appeared to have moved its front line to just 5 kilometers from the
city.
Airstrikes targeted military sites in Ajdabiya and Misrata Tuesday night into
Wednesday, a U.S. military official said. After the bombardment, Misrata
residents reported the first calm in a week.
"It is relatively quiet today -- this is the first time we feel that way in
weeks," said Mohammed, an opposition spokesman in the city who would only give
his first name. "We want to express our gratitude to the international
community since there were airstrikes this morning."
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Rebels help rescue U.S. serviceman
RELATED TOPICS
Libya
United Nations Security Council
Middle East Conflict
He and a Misrata Central Hospital doctor said the situation was dramatically
improved Wednesday, after overnight and early morning airstrikes that they said
targeted at least two pro-Gadhafi positions.
Gadhafi's forces have been stationed on the outskirts of the city, from where
they have been providing support and supplies to loyalists fighting rebels in
Misrata proper.
Many grocery stores and other shops opened in the city, two hours east of
Tripoli, which has been inaccessible for journalists.
The doctor, Khaled Mansouri, told CNN that five more people were killed in the
last 24 hours, raising the death toll to at least 95 in the last seven days. A
man who died Wednesday morning was shot by a pro-Gadhafi sniper, the doctor
said.
Gen. Abdul Fatah Younis, a former interior minister who quit to lead opposition
forces, said they have requested weapons from several nations to help the
embattled city.
"Misrata is destroyed and they need weapons," Younis told CNN. "We try to send
them weapons, but of course they were all light weapons. There were no heavy
weapons."
In Ajdabiya, parts of the city fell to opposition forces even though Gadhafi's
men, who have been pounding the area with artillery and heavy tank
bombardments, retained control of the northern and western gates, opposition
fighters and witnesses told CNN.
A hospital staffer and opposition fighters said that nine people were killed
Wednesday in fighting near the northern gate.
The international airstrikes against Libyan military positions began over the
weekend after Gadhafi defied a United Nations-mandated cease-fire in attacks
against civilians. The strikes are intended to help establish a no-fly zone.
The campaign was in its fifth day as Sweden announced it has frozen more $1.53
billion in Libyan assets in response to EU sanctions imposed on the northern
African country.
U.S. officials said the coalition also conducted airstrikes Tuesday night in
Tripoli, but said they did not "specifically target anything" in the capital.
In the last 24 hours, the United States has conducted 28 airstrikes and the
coalition has conducted 26 more, said the U.S. military official, who could not
be identified because of the sensitivity of the information.
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The coalition has not fired any cruise missiles against targets in Libya in the
last 24 hours because the Libyan air defense system is so degraded that manned
aircraft can now take over most missions, the official told CNN.
"We now have air dominance so we don't have to use cruise missiles," the
official said.
The airstrikes, using precision-guided munitions, were launched against
surface-to-air missile sites, command and control sites and Libyan troops and
weapons stationed outside Misrata and Ajdabiya.
An ammunition depot was also hit, said the official.
France launched the air campaign in Libya and Britain and the United States
followed. Germany is not participating in the military action, though it agrees
with the United Nations resolution in principle, and moved Wednesday to ensure
that its ships were far removed from the Libyan campaign.
A German navy spokesman said Wednesday that all German ships previously under
NATO command in the Mediterranean Sea were reassigned to operate under national
command and are returning to previously scheduled port stops in Europe to await
further instructions. German crew members of NATO fighter jets were also now
under German command.
On the ground, Gadhafi remained defiant and his forces continued their assault
on towns with a rebel presence.
"We will not give up," the embattled leader said Tuesday on state media as
supporters waved green flags. "They will not terrorize us. We are making fun of
their rockets. The Libyans are laughing at these rockets. We will defeat them
by any method."
Late Monday, coalition forces suffered a minor setback when a U.S. fighter jet
malfunctioned and crashed near Benghazi in eastern Libya.
The two crew members parachuted out and landed in different places. U.S. rescue
teams, picking up the pilot, dropped two 500-pound laser-guided bombs after
they saw an armored vehicle approaching the pilot and feared for his safety,
said Capt. Richard Ulsh, spokesman for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
An investigation of the incident is underway after reports surfaced that some
Libyans were injured by shrapnel.
Capt. Becky Massey, the pilot of one of the two Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft
involved in the rescue, said the bombs were dropped three miles from the
location of the downed pilot. One of the Ospreys then landed and picked up the
pilot.
A U.S. aircraft later dropped precision-guided munitions on the F-15E wreckage
to fully destroy it, a U.S. military official told CNN.
Rebels had already recovered the second crew member and treated him with
"respect and dignity" until coalition forces reached him, U.S. Navy Adm. Samuel
Locklear III said Tuesday.
The Libyan war was sparked in February by protests demanding an end to
Gadhafi's almost 42-year rule. The Libyan strongman responded with force,
prompting the international community to take action.
Locklear told reporters Tuesday that Gadhafi was still ordering armed action
and would remain in violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution until he
stopped those attacks.
The international operation has targeted air defense sites and command centers,
but coalition leaders have said no plans exist to kill Gadhafi.
However, a Johns Hopkins University professor said the coalition can only
achieve so much through aerial strikes.
"We have to understand the limits of what air power can do," Fouad Ajami told
CNN's "AC360."
"This is a recipe for a stalemate," he said. "(Gadhafi) stays in his bunker.
The people in Benghazi stay behind the line. Otherwise, this will go on for
quite a long time."
Criticism and questions persist about the international campaign, with no clear
answer on who will take over command of the mission and what the endgame or
exit strategy will be.
U.S. President Barack Obama said the timetable for a transition of military
leadership will be coming in days, not weeks.
NATO said Wednesday it will decide shortly what its role in the operation will
be. A spokesman added the alliance is well prepared.
"This is the bread and butter of NATO," an official said.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has voiced his opposition to NATO taking
political leadership over the Libya campaign. He suggested that a commission
composed of foreign ministers from the participating states play that role.
Ajami, however, said the Arab world would welcome NATO involvement.
"They know that the calamity is unfolding in Libya, and they know that no help
is going to come other than from the West and from the United States."
British Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday that Kuwait and Jordan have
agreed to provide logistical support to the Libyan effort. Qatar has already
contributed planes to mission.
The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it will participate -- but only in
providing humanitarian assistance.
Toward that end, the country has sent a ship and two planes with basic relief
supplies, the country's news agency said.
CNN's Nic Robertson, Arwa Damon, Amir Ahmed, Barbara Starr and Diana Magnay
contributed to this report.
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