International airstrikes forced Moammar Gadhafi's tanks to roll back from the western city of Misrata on Wednesday, giving respite to civilians who have endured more than a week of attacks and a punishing blockade.
Speaking from the U.S. command ship in the Mediterranean, Rear Adm. Gerard Hueber said the coalition was targeting Gadhafi's mechanized forces, his artillery and mobile missile sites as well as ammunition and other military supplies. He said coalition forces have moved west to try to protect Ajdabiya and Misrata.
A doctor in Misrata said the tanks fled after the airstrikes began around midnight, giving a much-needed reprieve to the city, which is inaccessible to human rights monitors or journalists. He said the airstrikes, which Canada said were from its pilots, struck the aviation academy and a vacant lot outside the central hospital. |