Libyan Civil War Megathread

[The Minsky Moment]

Gaddaffi the Elder sez: Carthago delenda est.

[Caliga]

Ok, he's totally got my support now.

[jimmy olsen]

Damn, that's some crazy shit. What the hell does he think this will accomplish? 

[MadImmortalMan]

Damn, that's some crazy shit. What the hell does he think this will accomplish? 

I'd guess at first glance that it wasn't deliberate.

[DGuller]

Bunch of Gaddafis were just nailed, though none seem to be important.  This mission creep is beggining too look like mission leap.

[MadImmortalMan]

Bunch of Gaddafis were just nailed, though none seem to be important.  This mission creep is beggining too look like mission leap.

His son and some grandkids.

Muammar Gaddafi son killed by Nato air strike – Libyan government

Saif al-Arab and three of Muammar Gaddafi's grandsons killed, according to reports – but the Libyan leader was unharmed


A Nato air strike in Tripoli has killed the youngest son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, a Libyan government spokesman has said.

Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, 29, was killed along with three of Muammar Gaddafi's grandsons, according to reports.

The Libyan leader was in the building at the time of the strike, but was unharmed. Several of Gaddafi's friends and relatives were wounded.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said: "This was a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country."

"The attack resulted in the martyrdom of brother Saif al-Arab Gaddafi and three of the leader's grandchildren," he said.

"The leader with his wife was there in the house with other friends and relatives. The leader himself is in good health – he wasn't harmed. [Muammar Gaddafi's] wife is also in good health."

Nato forces are permitted, under United Nations resolution 1973, passed in March, to use 'all necessary measures' to protect civilians from pro-Gaddafi forces.

Ibrahim added: "We think now it is clear to everyone that what is happening in Libya has nothing to do with the protection of civilians.

"This is not permitted by international law. Nato does not care to test our promises, the west does not care to test our statements. Their only care is to rob us of our freedom."

The one-storey house in a residential neighbourhood in Tripoli reportedly suffered heavy damage.

Nato gave no immediate reaction. There was no independent confirmation of the incident.

[jamesww]

Al-Jazeera are reporting rebels from Misurata have broken out and siezed the town of Ziltan, 30 miles down the road to Tripoli.

Map here:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=Misratah,+Libya&ie=UTF8&geocode=FTdU3gEditTcAA&split=0&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=6.881357,14.941406&hq=&hnear=Mi%C5%9Fr%C4%81tah,+Misratah,+Libya&ll=32.488914,14.444275&spn=1.255652,3.515625&z=9

[Caliga]

I've had enough of Gadhafi (again), so I'm now siding with the rebels once more for the fifth time.

[Ed Anger]

I've had enough of Gadhafi (again), so I'm now siding with the rebels once more for the fifth time.

The last tape of him had some awesome art on the walls. Not Saddam D&D artwork, but kooky enough.

[KRonn]

Libyan civil war still going strong....

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/05/20/libya.war/index.html?

NATO destroys 8 Libyan warships

(CNN) -- NATO jets pounded Libyan ports overnight, destroying eight of Moammar Gadhafi's warships, an alliance spokesman said Friday.

NATO targeted the ships in Tripoli, Al-Khums and Sirte after it was apparent that Gadhafi's forces were increasingly using naval vessels to launch attacks on civilians, said Mike Bracken, NATO's military spokesman. He said Gadhafi was indiscriminately mining waters in Misrata and hampering the flow of humanitarian aid.

"He was using maritime forces to lay mines. These were legal targets," Bracken said at a briefing in Brussels, Belgium.

Bracken did not say whether crew members were aboard when the ships were hit.

Bracken said the NATO campaign was progressing and that Gadhafi's combat power had been severely curtailed.
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But the Libyan leader's forces continued their heavy shelling of Dehiba, on the Tunisian border, where thousands of refugees have amassed in recent weeks. The border crossing, through which humanitarian aid is often trucked in, was closed Friday.

Earlier in the week, rebel forces in the Nafusa Mountains of western Libya were under such heavy attack that they issued a call for help, the National Transitional Council in Benghazi said.

They were faring better along southern borders, according to a report by the International Medical Corps, which has teams in various locations in Libya and Tunisia. The report said rebels gained control of the border crossings between Libya and Sudan, and Libya and Chad, and regained control of Kufra in the southeast.

The global medical organization said rebel control along the Chad border was significant because of material supplies that flow through there to Gadhafi's forces.

"While control of the entire border will be difficult, the rebels are reported to have a large force in the region," it said. "The Niger and Morocco border crossings remain under Gadhafi control."

The International Medical Corps also reported constant shelling by pro-Gadhafi forces in Zintan, where at least one person was killed and six others were brought to hospital. The group also reported heavy fighting in the besieged city of Yefren, where the group said the situation was deteriorating with food and medical supplies in short supply.

In another development, the family of South African freelance photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who has been missing in Libya since April, said late Thursday they now believe he was killed by Libyan government forces.

The statement was posted on the "Free photographer Anton Hammerl" Facebook page and follows interviews given in The New York Times, Global Post and The Atlantic by two journalists who say they were with him at the time he was shot.

"On 5 April 2011, Anton was shot by Gaddafi's forces in an extremely remote location in the Libyan desert. According to eyewitnesses, his injuries were such that he could not have survived without medical attention," according to the Facebook statement.

Hammerl was last reportedly seen in a remote region of the Libyan desert. He was reportedly captured by Gadhafi's forces near the town of al-Brega, a key oil town in eastern Libya, that has been the site of intense fighting.

[Valmy]

Did we do that?  Who is 'NATO' in this case?

[Valmy]

"While control of the entire border will be difficult, the rebels are reported to have a large force in the region," it said. "The Niger and Morocco border crossings remain under Gadhafi control."

Meh how hard could it be to patrol the Morocco-Libyan border?

[jimmy olsen]

I'm surprised that NATO didn't sink their navy before this.

[Neil]

I'm surprised that NATO is still hiding between the 'civilian' fig leaf.

[Berkut]

Did we at least use something cool? Like ICBM launched ASMs or something?