Allied bombs target tanks to break siege of rebel-held Libyan city

'We will defeat them by any means. We are ready for the fight, whether it will be a short or a long one'
12 April 2012

Allied jets came to the aid of rebels today as they launched air strikes on pro-Gaddafi forces attacking an opposition stronghold.

Residents of Misrata, west of the capital Tripoli, said coalition aircraft bombed tanks that have been shelling their beleaguered city for days.

They said Colonel Gaddafi's forces did not fire a single artillery round in response to the air strikes this morning.

Conditions in Misrata have been described as desperate with water cut off, food running out and dozens killed as the army tries to recapture the city from rebel control.

Doctors have been operating on patients in hospital corridors and many wounded were left untreated or simply turned away. "The situation in the local hospital is disastrous," said a Misrata doctor. He added: "The doctors and medical teams are exhausted and some of them cannot reach the hospital because of tanks and snipers."

Fierce fighting also raged in Zintan in the west and Ajdabiya in the east as the poorly equipped rebels failed to capitalise on the aerial assistance.

US rear-admiral Peg Klein, commander of the expeditionary strike group aboard the USS Kearsarge, said today the allied forces would target Gaddafi's advancing tanks.

With the allies unable to agree who will assume leadership of the operation from America a stalemate is threatened. British, French, US and Turkish officials are still trying to agree on a new command structure with the US keen to hand over control as soon as it can.

President Barack Obama said the allies should be able to announce soon that they have achieved the no-fly zone.He added: "We will continue to support the efforts to protect the Libyan people. But we will not be in the lead." France has opposed American and British plans for Nato to play the leading role, arguing it would be viewed by the Arab League as Western interference in the Muslim world. Turkey opposed Nato taking command, saying the air strikes had already overstepped the UN mandate.

The most likely scenario is for Nato's command structure to be used for the military operations under the political leadership of a "steering body" made up of Western and Arab nations.

Explosions rocked the capital Tripoli in pre-dawn airstrikes this morning after Col Gaddafi made his first public appearance in a week to denounce the "bunch of fascists" conducting the bombardment. He said: "We will defeat them by any means. We are ready for the fight, whether it will be a short or a long one. We will be victorious in the end."

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