Libya: Nato strike 'kills rebels' in Misrata

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

At least 11 rebel fighters have been killed in a Nato air strike in the besieged Libyan port city of Misrata, say reports.

A rebel commander and witnesses told reporters a Nato warplane had carried out Wednesday's bombing, but Nato refused to confirm or deny the reports.

A doctor told Reuters news agency seven rebels had also been killed in fire from government forces.

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Survivors quoted by US broadcaster CNN said 11 fighters had been killed and two injured in the strike on the coast, while a rebel commander, Abdullah Mohammed, told the New York Times 12 had died and five had been injured in apparently the same attack.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13223197

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MISURATA, Libya — NATO warplanes attacked a rebel position on the front lines of this besieged city here on Wednesday, killing 12 fighters in what the rebels called a friendly fire accident.

The rebels, who did not want to be identified for security reasons, were at first reluctant to admit the accident had occurred, not wanting to discourage further strikes against the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. The pace of NATO strikes had picked up noticeably in recent days, after rebel leaders complained of a lack of support in the weeks after the United States turned over operational control of the air campaign to NATO at the end of March.

The airstrike hit a salt factory in the Qasr Ahmed neighborhood at 4:30 p.m. local time. The rebels had been using it as a forward position since at least yesterday, they said, and had notified NATO of their presence there. In early April, NATO admitted its warplanes twice hit rebel positions, killing more than a dozen men, and expressed regret after the second.

NATO could not be immediately reached for comment on this latest incident.

http://www.disclose.tv/forum/nato-strike-kills-12-libyan-rebels-in-misurata-t50346.html

A doctor in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata has said a Nato air strike the previous day killed 12 rebels.

Dr Hassan Malitan said he was with the men minutes before two missiles struck the building they were occupying.

Malitan said he was driving away from the house on Wednesday afternoon when he heard a loud boom and felt the ground shake.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/28/nato-air-strike-misrata-rebels

[AllTooEasy]

1. NATO is useless.

For crying out loud!!!

I never thought I say this, but the US needs to get back involved and take command of Lybian operations. Without NATO, the rebels have a problem. With NATO, the rebels have 2 problems.

No ground troops though. NEVER!

[orangeapple]

2. Why do you think we're not involved?

We run NATO.

Friendly fire incidents like these are just part of CAS, always have been, always will be. War has costs, and shouldn't be entered expecting otherwise.

These events are going to be much more likely where the parties on the ground are practically indistinguishable, and we don't have troops on the ground (Forward Air Controllers) helping ensure where the 'friendlies' are.

[AllTooEasy]

3. We handed the Lybian command over to Non-US NATO members

...or should I say the non-US NATO members are useless. I'm not hearing of any successes from NATO in Lybia, just this stuff. I want the non-US NATO members to succeed there so we don't have to.

[sabrina 1]

11. We did no such thing as 'hand it over'. The CIA is on the ground

in Libya, not to mention the new 'rebel leadership'. We are flying Drones over the country, and we are very much involved. Being lied to again, and still people fall for it.

As for how great WE are at NOT killing civilians? Where have you been? Have you any idea of how many civilians the US has killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan?

Bombs KILL people!! This is why this country was never supposed to go to war unless we were being attacked. Why are people who opposed Bush's foreign adventures, now supporting the US involvement in yet another war that is none of our business?

Sometimes I wonder what party I belong to since two years ago. Innocent people are being slaughtered in Afghanistan, under US command every, single day. The last thing any African or ME country WANTS is to have the US interfering in their business. They have said so, over and over again. They have seen what the US has done to Iraq and Afghanistan and now Pakistan and even Yemen. THEY, the actual people of these nations, NOT the imported 'rebels' do not want us on their soil or in the skies dropping bombs on their people.

[KurtNYC]

5. We are NATO and

"No ground troops" is just one more lie on the steady path to the occupation of Libya.

[EFerrari]

6. The Obama administration pretended to "get out" of this

for about two days and then on the next Saturday, there was a story in LBN about them stepping back in. Plus, we are NATO. It's a shell game.

[PurityOfEssence]

4. ...measured in days, not weeks...

Sherman was right: war is hell.

If doing it, it should be done vigorously and with clear goals.

I know people thrill by how our President is "the coolest person in the room", but fighting a casual war leads to very many formal deaths, and I'm not talking about the hypothetical deaths that interventionists keep claiming were saved by not letting Qaddafi take Benghazi, I'm talking about the real, messy deaths like these and the more to come.

[txlibdem]

7. What? NATO has no satellites? NATO can't tell which direction troops came from?

This is just one more reason why we need to end the US role of "world policeman" and close down every US base on foreign soil, now and forever. That way the foreign nations will have to step up to the plate, properly train their own soldiers and airmen, and become an effective fighting force. As it is now the only news I hear about NATO forces is how they run from battles and blow up the wrong people.

It just speaks to a dependence on Big Daddy America to always step in and make them safe. BTW, every American taxpayer is paying higher taxes because these foreign nations now rely on our troops and equipment and they do not have to pay any military costs out of their budget.

How would you like to get a half trillion dollars back in your pocket? That's the cost of our empire each year. It needs to end now.

[EFerrari]

8. The only people who believe America does anything for anyone

without an ulterior motive are -- Americans.

What you call "dependence on Big Daddy", other people call imperialism, where the empire always says it's there for your own good even as it rips off your resources and your population.

[txlibdem]

10. Another excellent reason to close down all US bases on foreign soil

Why are my taxes paying for that as well then? That is the poor and middle class once again giving subsidies to billionaires so they can steal resources from foreign countries.

[EFerrari]

12. Yep. 2 billion dollars a day to keep up this global farce

which just rips us off and enriches the usual suspects.

[Prometheus Bound]

9. It was a fuck-up from the start. An impossible situation.

Hypocrisy. Stupidity. Arrogance. Foolishness.