US and Allies Fire Cruise Missiles into Libya
U.S., French and British forces blasted Libyan air defenses and armor, drawing intense volleys of tracer and antiaircraft fire over Tripoli early Sunday at the start of a campaign aimed at protecting rebel-held areas that will severely test Moammar Kadafi’s powers of survival.
French fighter jets and U.S. and British warships, firing more than 110 cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea, struck multiple military targets. The assault cheered the rebels, who had seized control of large areas of Libya as they sought to build on months of discontent across the Arab world but in recent days found themselves retreating in the face of Kadafi’s superior firepower.