{"id":332386,"date":"2011-03-23T16:14:36","date_gmt":"2011-03-23T16:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/23\/gaddafis-air-force-is-defeated\/"},"modified":"2011-03-23T16:14:36","modified_gmt":"2011-03-23T16:14:36","slug":"gaddafis-air-force-is-defeated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/23\/gaddafis-air-force-is-defeated\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaddafi&#8217;s air force &#8216;is defeated&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div readability=\"131.435069365\">\n        \t\t  <span><br \/>\n    <span>23 March 2011<\/span><br \/>\n<span>Last updated at <\/span><span>11:00 ET<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p> <!-- Adding hypertab --><\/p>\n<p><!-- end of hypertab --><\/p>\n<p>The commander of British aircraft operating over Libya has said that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi&#8217;s air force &#8220;no longer exists as a fighting force&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell said the allies could now operate &#8220;with near impunity&#8221; over the skies of Libya. <\/p>\n<p>He said they were now applying unrelenting pressure on the Libyan armed forces. <\/p>\n<p>He was speaking during a visit to RAF aircrew based at Gioia del Colle in southern Italy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are watching over the innocent people of Libya and ensuring that we protect them from attack&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have the Libyan ground forces under constant observation and we attack them whenever they threaten civilians or attack population centres.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>His comments come as Western leaders debate who leads the intervention, with the US keen to hand over to Nato.<\/p>\n<p>Western aircraft have flown more than 300 sorties over Libya in recent days and more than 162 Tomahawk cruise missiles have been fired.<\/p>\n<p>  <span>Snipers<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Earlier, witnesses reported that international forces had launched new air strikes near Libya&#8217;s rebel-held western city of Misrata.<\/p>\n<p>Forces loyal to Col Gaddafi initially pulled back, but Misrata residents said snipers continued to target people from rooftops.<\/p>\n<p>A Misrata resident told Reuters by telephone: &#8220;This morning, air strikes twice hit the airbase where Gaddafi&#8217;s brigades are based.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Two people were killed by snipers an hour ago in the centre of the town. Their bodies are now at the hospital, which I visited a while ago. Shooting is still going on there now.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A doctor in the city also told the BBC that snipers were continuing to shoot at civilians, and confirmed at least one person had been killed.<\/p>\n<p>  <!--  Embedding the video player --><br \/>\n<!--  This is the embedded player component --><\/p>\n<div readability=\"32\">\n<div>\n<div readability=\"7\">\n                                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"holding\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/617c6fa204_51795203.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Gaddafi\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Please turn on JavaScript.<\/strong> Media requires JavaScript to play.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <!-- embedding script --><\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <!-- companion banner --> <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<!-- END - companion banner --><!-- caption --><\/p>\n<p>Muammar Gaddafi appeared on Libyan TV making a defiant address to supporters<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<!-- END - caption -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><!-- end of the embedded player component --><\/p>\n<p><!-- Player embedded -->      <\/p>\n<p>Witnesses said tanks pulled back from their positions, from where they have been spearheading a siege of the city for days.<\/p>\n<p>Residents fleeing the town described shelling, gunfire and houses on fire.<\/p>\n<p>Col Gaddafi&#8217;s forces have also resumed their pounding of Zintan, near the Tunisian border, according to reports.<\/p>\n<p>And there are also reports of fierce fighting between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces in the strategic eastern town of Ajdabiya.<\/p>\n<p>Late on Tuesday, Col Gaddafi made his first public appearance in a week and gave a short speech to a crowd of supporters in Tripoli.<\/p>\n<p>He urged &#8220;all Islamic armies&#8221; to join him, saying: &#8220;We will be victorious.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>  <span>Naval blockade<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, ships from Nato nations have started patrolling off the Libyan coast to enforce a UN arms embargo against Col Gaddafi&#8217;s regime.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesman for the Western military alliance, Canadian Brigadier General Pierre St Amand, said six vessels were taking part in the first day of patrols.<\/p>\n<p>They aim to intercept and board ships suspected of ferrying arms to the Libyan government.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If after inspection, doubts remain as to the legitimacy of the cargo, the vessel will be diverted to a designated port for further inspection,&#8221; Gen St-Amand said.<\/p>\n<p>Nato members are currently holding talks about assuming responsibility for the no-fly zone over Libya.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey, Nato&#8217;s sole Muslim member, is an integral part of the naval blockade but expressed concern about the alliance taking over command of the no-fly zone from the US.<\/p>\n<p>US defence secretary Robert Gates has arrived in the Egyptian capital Cairo for talks on both Libya and Egypt&#8217;s hoped-for transition to democracy following the fall of Hosni Mubarak.<\/p>\n<p>He was previously in Moscow, where President Dmitry Medvedev criticised what he called the &#8220;indiscriminate use of force&#8221; by coalition aircraft in Libya.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Gates rejected the criticism of the air strikes, saying Col Gaddafi was lying about civilian casualties.<\/p>\n<p>Russia abstained from last week&#8217;s UN Security Council resolution that authorised armed intervention in Libya to protect civilians.<\/p>\n<p><i>Send your pictures and videos to <b>yourpics@bbc.co.uk<\/b>  or text them to <b>61124<\/b> (UK) or <b>+44 7725 100 100<\/b> (International). If you have a large file you can<\/i> <a href=\"http:\/\/bbcnewsupload.streamuk.com\/\">upload here<\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/talking_point\/2780295.stm#yourpics\">Read the terms and conditions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>Go here to see the original:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/go\/rss\/int\/news\/-\/news\/world-africa-12837330\" title=\"Gaddafi's air force 'is defeated'\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gaddafi&#8217;s air force &#8216;is defeated&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> 23 March 2011 Last updated at 11:00 ET The commander of British aircraft operating over Libya has said that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi&#8217;s air force &#8220;no longer exists as a fighting force&#8221;. Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell said the allies could now operate &#8220;with near impunity&#8221; over the skies of Libya. He said they were now applying unrelenting pressure on the Libyan armed forces<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-332386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gaddafi&#039;s air force &#039;is defeated&#039; - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/23\/gaddafis-air-force-is-defeated\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Gaddafi&#039;s air force &#039;is defeated&#039; - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"23 March 2011 Last updated at 11:00 ET The commander of British aircraft operating over Libya has said that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi&#039;s air force &quot;no longer exists as a fighting force&quot;. 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