European and US forces unleashed warplanes and cruise missiles against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s forces in the biggest military intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The strikes halted the advance of Qaddafi’s troops on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and a no-fly zone was now in place over Libya with government air defenses “taken out” and no sign of Libyan aircraft in flight, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen told NBC.
Qaddafi said the raids amounted to terrorism and a Libyan health official said the number of people killed was 64.
Photo: AFP, SENIOR AIRCRAFTWOMAN LISA CONWAY, UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
There was no way to independently verify the reports.
French planes fired the first shots on Saturday, destroying tanks and armored vehicles near Benghazi in a UN-endorsed intervention to force Qaddafi’s troops to cease fire and end attacks on civilians who launched an uprising last month against his 41-year rule. French warplanes were in the skies above Libya again yesterday, an armed forces source said. Britain said its planes had targeted Libya’s air defenses mainly around Tripoli.
The burned remains of government military vehicles littered the main road into Benghazi, as the rebels advanced back toward the town of Ajdabiya they lost last week.
Fourteen tanks, 20 troop carriers, two trucks with multiple rocket launchers and dozens of pick-ups were all destroyed. Some still smoldered. Fourteen bodies lay in the desert next to the vehicles, though the scale of the bombardment made identifying bodies difficult as munitions exploded in the flames.
“Qaddafi is like a chicken and the coalition is plucking his feathers so he can’t fly. The revolutionaries will slit his neck,” said Fathi Bin Saud, a 52-year-old rebel carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, surveying the wreckage.
US and British warships and submarines launched 110 Tomahawk missiles overnight against air defenses around Tripoli and the western city of Misrata, which has been besieged by Qaddafi’s forces, US military officials said.
They said US forces and planes were working with Britain, France, Canada and Italy in operation “Odyssey Dawn.” Denmark said it had four fighter planes ready to join in and was awaiting US instructions.
Qaddafi said all Libyans had now been armed to defend the country and that Western defeat was inevitable.
“We will not leave our land and we will liberate it,” he said in a speech on state television. “We will remain alive and you will all die.”
China and Russia, which abstained in the UN Security Council vote last week endorsing intervention, expressed regret at the military action. China’s Foreign Ministry yesterday said it hoped the conflict would not lead to a greater loss of civilian life.
In a statement, China made no mention of a ceasefire and stressed it respected the North African country’s “sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.”
Libyan state television showed footage from an unidentified hospital of what it called victims of the “colonial enemy.” Ten bodies were wrapped up in white and blue bed sheets and several people were wounded, one of them badly, the broadcaster said.
Tripoli residents said they had heard an explosion near the eastern Tajoura district, while in Misrata they said strikes had targeted an airbase used by Qaddafi’s forces. Qaddafi’s troops were still surrounding Misrata, a resident said, and government snipers were posted on rooftops in the city center.
“They seem to be ready to fire at anything that moves,” the resident, named Mohammed, said.
The intervention, after weeks of diplomatic wrangling, was welcomed in Benghazi with a mix of apprehension and relief.
“We salute France, Britain, the United States and the Arab -countries for standing with Libya, but we think Qaddafi will take out his anger on civilians. So the West has to hit him hard,” civil servant Khalid al-Ghurfaly, 38, said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique