U.S. and allied warplanes attacked Libyan targets for a third day Monday, but on a smaller scale than weekend bombing that set the stage for wide enforcement of a no-fly zone, Pentagon officials said.
Air attacks have succeeded in stopping regime ground forces from advancing to Benghazi, and we are now seeing ground forces moving southward from Benghazi,” Ham said.
Rebel fighter Mohammed Abdul-Mullah, 38, said government troops halted fighting after the international campaign began.
“The balance has changed a lot,” he said. “But pro-Gadhafi forces are still strong.”
The United States has fired nearly 150 cruise missiles against Libyan targets in the past three days, including one that hit inside the compound in Tripoli where Gadhafi and his family live.
Ham and other U.S. officials said attacking Gadhafi is not an aim of the effort. He said if Gadhafi’s forces back off from rebel-held areas and don’t show hostile intent or movement, they’ll be spared.
Ham said the possibility of Gadhafi responding by using surrogates for a terrorist attack on the U.S. or Europe is “a very, very legitimate concern.”
There was disagreement in Europe over whether NATO should take control of the military operations in Libya, as the United States wants it to do.
Turkey expressed reservations about the alliance taking over. Italy said it would reconsider use of its bases unless the alliance is put in charge.
The United Nations Security Council rejected a Libyan request for an emergency meeting to halt what it called “military aggression.”
Army Gen. Carter Ham, the lead U.S. commander, said the American role in the air assault had begun to decline, and the majority of missions Monday were flown by pilots from other coalition countries.
International forces were extending a no-fly zone from rebel strongholds in eastern Libya hundreds of miles to the capital, Tripoli, where forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi are based. A no-fly zone bars flights by Gadhafi’s military, preventing him from bombing rebels or supporting his forces.
“With the growing capabilities of the coalition, I anticipate the no-fly zone will soon extend to Brega, Misurata, and then to Tripoli,” Ham said from his headquarters in Germany. He said that zone would cover more than 600 miles, including Benghazi, which rebels control and Gadhafi’s forces tried to capture last week.
