BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO aircraft sank eight warships belonging to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces in overnight attacks, the alliance said on Friday.
The ships were sunk in coordinated attacks on the ports of Tripoli, Al Khums and Sirte, an alliance statement said.
"Given the escalating use of naval assets, NATO had no choice but to take decisive action to protect the civilian population of Libya and NATO forces at sea," Rear-Admiral Russell Harding, deputy commander of the NATO mission in Libya, said in the statement.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; editing by David Stamp)
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.
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