30170058 Libyan authorities have reported about 114 killed in air strikes
According to the government of Libya, as a result of air strikes inflicted by the country from March 20 to 23, killing at least 114 people and at least 445 were injured. These data, reported Agence France-Presse, Friday, March 25, at a press conference in Tripoli announced the official representative of the Ministry of Health Libya Khaled Omar. According to Omar, a four-day bombing campaign, 104 people were killed in the capital of Libya and its suburbs. Another 10 people, he said, were killed in Sirte – the hometown of Muammar Gaddafi. In this case, the representative of the Libyan Ministry of Health did not specify whether it is only about civilian casualties or given the information they include and losses among the troops loyal to Qadhafi. After the first blows to the international coalition in the territory of Libya in the evening on March 19, authorities there reported about 48 dead and 150 wounded. Then the Libyan authorities have stated that most of the victims – civilians. The military operation in Libya began after the UN Security Council March 17 adopted Resolution 1973, authorizing the international community over the country to establish no-fly zone, and apply any funds, except for a ground invasion, to ensure the safety of civilians. First, the operation involved air forces of France, Britain and the U.S., and then acceded to aircraft of other countries in Europe, as well as Qatar, which became the first country – a member of the League of Arab States, whose warplanes took part in coalition operations in Libya. March 25 the Pentagon announced that in just the past day the coalition forces launched 16 cruise missiles at positions of troops loyal to al-Gaddafi, and the planes operation participants made 153 sorties. In late March – early April, command of the operation to ensure over Libya's no-fly zone will go to NATO. Lead the operation of Canadian Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard. Negotiations about the transfer of the NATO leadership over the entire military operation in Libya, but so far no agreement has been reached.
