Reply #79: Gadhafi plane evades NATO no-fly zone, bombs rebel tanks

[pinboy3niner]

By SHASHANK BENGALI


McClatchy Newspapers


AJDABIYA, Libya -- Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's air force evaded the U.N.-ordered NATO-enforced no-fly zone on Thursday and destroyed three rebel tanks parked along a key highway here, triggering a rebel retreat that seemed to pave the way for a full pro-Gadhafi assault on the city of Ajdabiya.

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The tanks - three Soviet-built T-72s and a Soviet-built T-55 - had left Benghazi, the rebel capital, Wednesday to reinforce rebel positions near Brega, site of a strategic oil terminal where rebels and pro-Gadhafi forces have been battling for days. A rebel unit commander, Salah Saraj, 34, said the rebels had parked the tanks after NATO ordered them not to go forward.

A lone aircraft attacked the four tanks at about 11 a.m., according to another rebel fighter, Ahmed Salim Youssef, 25, who said he witnessed the attack. Three tanks suffered direct hits, Youssef said. Also hit was a bus carrying rebel fighters.

Youssef said the attack took place about 12 miles outside of Brega and that the aircraft made two passes at the tanks.


Read more:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/07/2155509/gadhafi-plane-evades-nato-no-fly.html#ixzz1IrQJunF2