British forces strike military intelligence service headquarters in Tripoli

[News_Editor]

British forces strike military intelligence service headquarters in Tripoli

2011-06-06 18:33:41 GMT+7 (ICT)

TRIPOLI (BNO NEWS) -- British forces on early Monday morning carried out an airstrike against the headquarters of the military intelligence service in Tripoli, officials said.

The UK Ministry of Defense said its Tornado and Typhoon aircraft carried out the airstrike during the early hours of Monday. It followed an 'intensive and sustained' series of airstrikes by other NATO forces on Sunday, which struck numerous targets loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"The strike complemented other allied air missions conducted against other key regime targets in Tripoli during the course of last night," said Major General Nick Pope, a spokesman for the UK Ministry of Defense. "The organization of [Gaddafi's] apparatus of repression is increasingly well understood, as our intelligence improves daily and senior members of the regime defect."

On Sunday, NATO forces struck targets which included command and control centers, military support facilities, and other buildings. It was not immediately clear if there were military or civilian casualties as a result of the airstrikes, but the Libyan government has previously accused NATO of causing civilian casualties. Those claims could not be independently verified.

"The targets that were struck overnight were vital to the pro-Gaddafi forces' ability to harm the civilian population - essentially they are the hub of Gaddafi's command network - and we will continue to erode its foundations until the violence against the Libyan population ends," said Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, Commander of NATO's Operation Unified Protector.

An operational update from NATO identified 'key hits' on Sunday as three command and control facilities in and in the vicinity of Tripoli, the Libyan capital. Other targets in the vicinity of Tripoli included an surface-to-air missile storage facility, one ground forces compound, one air defense forces compound, four surface-to-air missile launches, and one radar installation.

In other parts of Libya, NATO aircraft targeted three military vehicles in the vicinity of Brega. One armored fighting vehicle was further destroyed in the vicinity of Misrata.

On Saturday, NATO began using attack helicopters to assist fighter jets and missiles being fired from off the Libyan coast. The use of attack helicopters provides the NATO operation with additional flexibility to track and engage pro-Gaddafi forces, who are accused of deliberately targeting civilians and attempt to hide in populated areas.

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