Allied Forces Attack Residential Neighborhoods in Tripoli

Libyans denounce imperialist air attacks on the North African state. Condemnations are growing against the U.S, and the Western Europeans who are bombing the country., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Allied forces attack residential neighborhoods in Tripoli

BERLIN, March 23.— The bombing of a residential neighborhood in the Libyan capital today by the international coalition of imperialist powers caused "a significant number of civilian deaths," reported the official Libyan news agency Jana.

Although the exact number of dead was not cited, the report indicated that aircraft had bombed several residential suburbs of Tripoli.

State television additionally reported that the foreign forces had targeted emergency assistance crews who were working to remove the dead and wounded from the areas hit.

The commando operations headed by the United States, France and Britain today concentrated on land targets, after claiming to have neutralized the country’s military aviation.

Beverly Mock, spokesperson for the USS Mount Whitney Command Ship, which is coordinating tasks in the Mediterranean, said that the aircraft had undertaken 97 operations in the last 24 hours, ANSA reports.

Since the start of the attack, U.S. and British warships and submarines have fired 162 Tomahawk cruise missiles, 112 of them on Saturday.

It was announced by the Atlantic Alliance in Brussels that six NATO ships are already in the Mediterranean facing the Libyan coast to supervise the arms embargo decided by the UN, AFP reports.

Commanded by Vice Admiral Rinaldo Veri, based at the NATO operations center in Naples, the naval and air forces are in charge of intercepting and boarding any vessel suspected of transporting arms or mercenaries of Libyan origin or destination.

In parallel, six nations (Spain, the U.S., Britain, Greece, Italy and Turkey) have offered 16 vessels for the operation, according to the Alliance.

During a visit to Cairo U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated that there is no timetable for the end of the international coalition operation in Libya.

From Washington, DPA noted that U.S. participation in the military operation is provoking internal disputes, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Moreover, the cost of the intervention is prompting increasing criticism. The Tomahawk missiles fired to date on Libyan targets are valued at $100 million, an expense assumed by a country which is suffering a high public debt, as Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas commented.

In Belgrade, Russian Prime Minister Valdimir Putin expressed concern at the facility with which Western countries resort to the use of force "to resolve international crises."

"How can one intervene in defense of the civilian population while adopting methods that are increasing the number of victims?" Putin asked in a press conference.

Translated by Granma International •