Friday, April 1, 2011

Srike hit a truck carrying ammunition, and the resulting explosion destroyed two nearby homes


Libya air raid 'killed civilians'

Seven civilians died and 25 were hurt in a coalition air strike on a pro-Gaddafi convoy in eastern Libya, a doctor there has told the BBC.
Dr Suleiman Refardi said Wednesday's raid happened in the village of Zawia el Argobe, 15km (9 miles) from Brega.
The strike hit a truck carrying ammunition, and the resulting explosion destroyed two nearby homes.
All the dead were between the ages of 12 and 20, Dr Refardi said. Nato says it is investigating the claim.
The news comes as opposition leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil said the rebels would agree to a ceasefire if Col Muammar Gaddafi's troops withdrew from cities.
"We agree on a ceasefire on the condition that our brothers in the western cities have freedom of expression and also that the forces that are besieging the cities withdraw," he told a news conference in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
'No anger'
Dr Refardi told the BBC that the Libyan government convoy had included tanks, artillery and trucks carrying ammunition.
A direct hit on an ammunition truck and trailer in a street in Zawia el Argobe sent a hail of shrapnel into nearby houses, he said.
Four of the dead were female, including three children from the same family, aged between 12 and 16, the BBC's Ben Brown reports from Brega.
The BBC's Ben Brown: "A doctor told us seven civilians were killed"
Three boys, aged between 14 and 20, were also killed.
Dr Refardi said he had spoken to the family of the girls who had been killed and "there was no anger" at the coalition forces.
"If these tanks had entered Ajdabiya it would have been a massacre," he said.
"They [the Libyan people] are expecting more than this, because they know the Gaddafi forces are using civilians as a shield."
Nato officials told the BBC they were making inquiries "down our operations chain to find out if indeed there is any information on the operation side that would support this claim".
Meanwhile, the BBC's Wyre Davies in Ajdabiya says rebel forces there are pressing on to the front line around the oil town of Brega.
Plenty of enthusiastic, if disorganised, insurgents are driving through in pick-up trucks with heavy-duty machine-guns mounted on the back, he reports.