Mar 19th 2011 – 1:04PM
CBC News The United States and its allies launched air attacks on Libyan targets on Saturday, in what U.S. President Barack Obama described as the work of a "broad coalition" to protect "a threatened people" against ruler Moammar Gadhafi's forces.
Libyan TV said airstrikes hit civilian areas in Tripoli, although the report could not be independently confirmed.
A senior U.S. military official told The Associated Press that a coalition of Britain, France, Canada and Italy would be launching strikes along the Libyan coast. The Western coalition is reportedly targeting Libyan air defences, especially around Tripoli and the city of Misrata.
"We are answering the calls of a threatened people and we are acting in the interests of the United States and the world," Obama said in a statement from Brazil, during a visit to Latian America.
"Make no mistake, today we are part of a broad coalition."
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed that British forces are also in action over Libya.
"What we are doing is necessary it is legal and it is right," Cameron told reporters in London.
Earlier in the day the coalition action began with a French airstrike that happened at 6:45 p.m. local time in Libya (4:45 p.m GMT), French Defence Ministry spokesman Thierry Burkhard said.
Reuters reported the attack involved 20 French aircraft, quoting an unnamed defence official who said "a number of tanks and armoured vehicles" had been destroyed. Al Jazeera said the attack happened southwest of the rebel capital of Benghazi.
The airstrikes came amid reports that forces supporting Gadhafi had entered Benghazi, launching attacks in defiance of a UN no-fly resolution and mounting international pressure to halt the violent crackdown.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his country's military action is part of an international intervention to protect civilians from the "murderous madness" of Gadhafi's forces.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, meanwhile, proposed having a NATO base in the southern part of his country near Naples to be used as the command centre for the international mission.
Jet shot down
Earlier Saturday, government tanks were seen in Benghazi and the south and coastal areas were coming under attack despite a declared ceasefire, BBC and Al Jazeera reported.
Rebels and government soldiers were also fighting on a university campus on the south side of the city, Bengahzi resident Abdel-Hafez told the Associated Press.
"There is a bombardment by artillery and rockets on all districts of Benghazi," Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of the opposition National Libyan Council, told Al Jazeera.
Thousands of Libyans were fleeing shelling on the western side of Benghazi, the CBC's Nahlah Ayed reported from Cairo.
Long lines of traffic were reported heading east on the road from Benghazi to the city of Tobruk, and long waits were also happening at gas stations.
As well, video footage from the city showed a jet being shot down over the city. An Associated Press reporter saw the plane go down in flames and heard the sound of artillery and crackling gunfire.
Libya's government denied there had been any action in Benghazi and blamed rebel elements for trying to spark international military action.
"There are no attacks whatsoever on Benghazi," government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told Reuters.
Trying to outmanoeuvre Western military intervention, the Gadhafi government declared a ceasefire on Friday as the rebel uprising faltered against his military.
UN resolution 'invalid': Gadhafi
On Saturday, however, the Libyan ruler said a UN resolution authorizing international military intervention in Libya was "invalid."
Gadhafi also sent a letter to the French and British leaders, and the UN secretary general, saying the resolution violates the UN charter and they would "regret" any intervention.
"Libya is not for you, Libya is for the Libyans," he said.
The rebels want UN intervention immediately and say they don't have enough ammunition or people to fight on their own.
"At the very least, they are saying that the allied forces should come in immediately and provide air cover," the CBC's Ayed said.
Filed under: Canada
Tagged: Barack Obama, Col. Gadhafi, Gadhafi, Libya, Nicolas Sarkozy, pro-Gadhafi, sarkozy, stephen harper, united nations, western coalition
Copyright: (C) Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, http://www.cbc.ca/aboutcbc/discover/termsofuse.html
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