'Israeli-made weapons seized in Libya'

Libyan opposition forces prepare to fire a rocket launcher at the front line outside Brega, Saturday, April 2, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172793.html

Revolutionary forces say troops loyal to embattled Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi use Israeli-made weapons to target Misratah.

An opposition spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Saturday that Gaddafi forces abandoned Israeli-made rocket-propelled grenades after they failed to recapture Misratah, which is located 150 kilometers (95 miles) east of the Libyan capital city of Tripoli.

He also accused government troops of "crimes against humanity" after they targeted inhabited areas and houses in the coastal city of Misratah.

Opposition troops have reportedly repelled Gaddafi forces' attempt to enter Misratah from three fronts.

Meanwhile, opposition forces are claiming to have captured the strategic oil port town of Brega on Saturday as the battle rages.

US and allies warplanes bombed targets in and around Brega overnight, accidentally striking a pickup truck manned by revolutionaries.

Libyan state TV claimed that civilians were hit by another US-led airstrike over the southwestern city of Sabha.

The Libyan government says at least 114 people, including several civilians, have been killed and 445 others injured in US-led aerial attacks in the oil-rich country.

"From March 20 to March 23, the attacks have killed 114 people and injured 445 people," the network quoted Libyan Health Minister Khaled Omar as saying at a press conference last week.

According to government figures, 104 people were killed in Tripoli, while another 10 civilians lost their lives in Sirte, the hometown of Gaddafi.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says some 351,600 people have fled the crisis-hit Libya and around 1,500 to 2,000 are making their way to Egypt each day.

According to US military officials, more than 350 aircraft are participating in the US-led campaign of military airstrikes against Libya.

Apart from the United States, twelve countries from the European Union are taking part in Operation Odyssey Dawn, which began on March 19 after the UN Security Council imposed a no-fly zone over troubled Libya.

The rising civilian death toll in Libya has set off a frenzy of speculations about the real motive behind the war in the country, with analysts saying that under the guise of protecting civilians, as enshrined in the UN Security Council resolution 1973, Washington and its Western allies are basically after the North African country's vast oil reserves.