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Coalition striking Kadhafi’s ground forces: US

24 March 2011 03:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The US military said Wednesday that Moamer Kadhafi’s ground forces, notably those threatening the Libyan cities of Misrata, Ajdabiya and Zawiyah, were being targeted by coalition air strikes, APA reports quoting AFP.
"We are putting pressure on Kadhafi’s ground forces that are threatening cities," Rear Admiral Gerard Hueber told journalists. Asked if that meant air strikes, he replied: "Yes."
US, French and British warplanes and warships launched military action against Kadhafi’s regime on Saturday, but this was confirmation that certain Libyan ground troops are now considered fair game for coalition air strikes.
UN Security Council resolution 1973 -- the fruit of intense diplomacy to avoid Russian and Chinese vetoes while winning Arab support -- allows for "all necessary means" to support the limited aim of protecting Libyan civilians.
US President Barack Obama said Tuesday that a no-fly zone is almost in place over Libya as part of international efforts to shield civilians from attacks by Kadhafi’s forces.
And Air Vice Marshall Greg Bagwell, a top British military officer, followed that up on Wednesday by saying that Libya’s air force had been almost totally destroyed and "no longer exists as a fighting force."
With a no-fly zone all but established, Obama and his allies are coming under increasing pressure to spell out what further military action will be taken in Libya, with every indication so far that Kadhafi is hunkering down.
Hueber, chief of staff to the US commander of the Libya mission, Admiral Samuel Locklear, said there was still no indication that coalition air strikes had led to any Libyan civilian deaths.
"Kadhafi forces must pull out from Misrata, Ajdabiya and Zawiyah," he told journalists, referring to three key strategic cities in northern Libya over which rebels and Kadhafi forces have been battling for control.
Speaking via phone from the command ship in the Mediterranean, the USS Mount Whitney, Hueber said Kadhafi’s forces had been seen making incursions into certain cities armed with tanks, artillery and rocket launchers.
He would not be drawn on whether air strikes would target Kadhafi troops actually inside urban areas, saying: "I don’t want discuss specific locations."
"In protecting those civilians, in accordance with our coalition partners, yes we are interdicting and putting pressure on Kadhafi forces that are attacking population centers," Hueber said.
"Our mission here is to protect the civilian populace and we choose our targets and plan our actions with that as a top priority.
"They have to cease fire. All attacks against civilians must stop and those forces that are advancing on the city of Benghazi and Misrata must stop advancing. And humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of Libya."