Sunday, April 24, 2011

Second Drone Strike in Libya


An unmanned predator drone struck a Libyan anti-aircraft system in Tripoli sometime Sunday or late Saturday, a NATO spokesman said.

The spokesman on Sunday said that the drone hit an SA-8 anti-aircraft system sometime in the past 24 hours, confirming the second such strike by NATO forces.

The United States on Saturday confirmed a predator strike, which happened Saturday afternoon.

Keeping with U.S. practice not to comment on drone strikes, the Pentagon offered no other information.

According to a NATO news release, the first strike destroyed a multiple rocket launcher belonging to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime in the vicinity of Misrata. The rocket launcher had been used against civilians, NATO said.

The unmanned predator drones are the latest technology to be used in Libya as NATO carries out a U.N.-backed mission there to protect civilians and enforce a no-fly zone.
The United States has used such drones in other conflict zones, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are designed to carry out precision bombings, and can also be used to collect intelligence.

No comments:

Post a Comment