Western planes hit ground targets

TRIPOLI – Western warplanes hit Libyan forces at a strategically important eastern town, trying to land a crippling blow on Muammar Gaddafi’s tanks in a nearly week-old campaign that NATO says could last three months.
In Tripoli, residents reported another air raid just before dawn on Friday, hearing the roar of a warplane, followed by a distant explosion and bursts of anti-aircraft gunfire.
Western-led operations to enforce a no fly zone to stop a violent crackdown against a popular uprising won more Arab support when the United Arab Emirates said it would take part, but France cautioned the conflict would not be quick.
“I doubt that it will be days,” said Admiral Edouard Guillaud. “I think it will be weeks. I hope it will not take months.”
Guillaud said a French plane destroyed an army artillery battery near the eastern frontline town of Ajdabiyah, 150 km (90 miles) south of Benghazi. Ajdabiyah is strategically important for both sides as it commands the coastal highway to the west.
In London, the Ministry of Defence said British Tornado aircraft had also been active there, firing missiles overnight at Libyan military vehicles threatening civilians.
In Brussels, a NATO official said on Friday “Planning for NATO’s no-fly operation assumed a mission lasting 90 days, but this could be extended or shortened as required.”
Rebel forces on the road to Ajdabiyah seemed more organised than in recent days, when fighters’ disarray stirred doubts about their ability ever to pose an armed challenge to Gaddafi.
In the eastern rebel bastion of Benghazi, rebel spokesman Mustafa Gheriani said he expected Ajdabiyah to fall on Friday or Saturday following the overnight British and French strikes.
“This (the strikes) will weaken their forces and more importantly their morale,” he said, adding the level of Western strikes was “sufficient. We feel safe under their protection”.
He repeated that rebels did not want ground troops and said that if Gaddafi was prevented from bringing in mercenaries, the rebels could win the ground war on their own.
The rebels’ main concern was the western cities of Misrata and Zintan, besieged by government troops, he said.
“They are starting to run short of basic needs,” he said.
A resident of Zawiyah, just west of Tripoli, said the city resembled a ghost town after heavy fighting, with some residents subject to beatings and kidnappings.
“It’s a ghost town. Gaddafi’s men are still firmly in control but they are facing resistance from the rebels in some streets,” said Mohsen, who fled to the Tunisian border on Wednesday. Gaddafi’s forces took back control of Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, two weeks ago.
NATO said on Thursday that after four days of tough negotiations that it would enforce the no-fly zone but stopped short of taking full command of U.N.-backed military operations to protect civilians from forces loyal to Gaddafi.
Differences over the scope the U.N. resolution gave for military action against Gaddafi’s army led to days of heated arguments within NATO about its role in the operation.
The United States, embroiled in Iraq and Afghanistan, is keen to step back and play a supporting role in Libya in order to preserve alliance unity and maintain the support of Muslim countries for the U.N.-mandated intervention.