Friday 8 April 2011

Nato refuses to apologise for strike on Libya rebels


Strike close to rebel forces near Brega, eastern Libya, on 7/4/11 Fighting is centred around Brega - in a situation described as fluid by Nato
Nato has refused to apologise for a "friendly fire" attack on rebel tanks in eastern Libya that killed at least four people.
Rear Adm Russ Harding said that, until Thursday's incident, Nato had not been aware that rebel troops had started to use tanks.
"Our job is to protect civilians," he told a news conference.
Rebel forces reacted with anger at the air strike on their tanks near the eastern town of Ajdabiya.
However, rebel commanders had stressed that it would not damage relations with the allied force.
Rear Adm Harding, speaking in Naples, described the situation between the towns of Ajdabiya and Brega - where the attack happened - as "very fluid" with vehicles "going backwards and forwards".
He said government tanks known to have previously targeted civilians in the western city of Misrata had been on the road on Thursday. At that point, Nato did not know that rebel troops had begun to bring out their tanks.
"It would appear that two of our strikes yesterday may have resulted in the deaths of a number of [rebel] forces who were operating main battle tanks," he said on Friday.
"I'm not apologising," he told reporters.
"The situation on the ground, as I said, was extremely fluid and remains extremely fluid. Up until yesterday, we had no information that the... opposition forces were using tanks," he added.
"Our role is to protect civilians. Tanks have been used in the past to directly target civilians."
Rear Adm Harding also refused to back the view of US General Carter Ham - who led the first stage of the coalition air campaign in Libya - that the conflict appeared to have reached a stalemate with rebel forces unlikely to oust Col Gaddafi's troops.
"If someone wants to define that as a stalemate that's fine, all I'm saying is that yes, it's fluid, but it's fluid in a relatively small area," he said.
Explanation call The rebels hit in Thursday's air strike had been moving a group of tanks, armoured vehicles and rocket launchers near the front line between the towns of Ajdabiya and Brega in more than 30 transporters.
Nato's Rear Admiral Russell Harding: "Until yesterday we had no information that the rebels were using tanks"
One rebel commander told the BBC he saw at least four missiles land among rebel fighters.
Rebels said four rebels died, while local doctors told the BBC at least 13 fighters had been killed in the strike. Many more were injured.
The BBC's Wyre Davies in Ajdabiya said there was considerable anger among rebel troops about the incident. They were asking why rebel units were hit, when they could be seen clearly advancing in a westerly direction towards the front line.
Rear Adm Harding's comments about the incident contradicted what rebel commander Gen Abdelfatah Yunis had told the BBC on Thursday evening.
He said Nato had been informed that the rebels' tanks would be on the road, and had even been given the necessary co-ordinates. He also said Nato had apologised to the rebels about the incident, although not directly to him.
Gen Yunis had called on Nato to give a "rational and convincing explanation" about what had happened, but had stressed it would not lead to tensions with the allied force.
This is the third such incident since Nato took over air operations from a US, French and British coalition a week ago.
Last Friday, at least 13 people were reportedly killed when a coalition plane fired on a rebel convoy between Brega and Ajdabiya. In a separate incident, seven civilians died and 25 were hurt in a coalition air strike on a pro-Gaddafi convoy near Brega.
Misrata Meanwhile, pro-Gaddafi troops are reported to be advancing into the eastern districts of Libya's third biggest city, Misrata, triggering street battles with rebels.
The UN children's agency, Unicef, says it was "reliable and consistent reports" that government snipers have been targeting children in the city.
Misrata has been under attack by Libyan government forces for several weeks, and Libyan rebels had complained it would "cease to exist" within a week unless Nato took action to save it.
A ship chartered by the UN World Food Programme has delivered hundreds of tonnes of high energy biscuits, flour, and water purification tablets, as well as enough medicine to last 30,000 people for a month.

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