Thursday, March 03, 2011

Libya seizes NATO troops

Three Dutch marines were being held by authorities in Libya after they were captured by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi while trying to rescue stranded workers, officials said Thursday.

The trio were surrounded by armed men and captured Sunday after landing near Sirte in a Lynx helicopter that was on board the navy ship HMS Tromp, which is anchored off the Libyan coast to help evacuations from the conflict-torn country, Dutch Defense Ministry spokesman Otte Beeksma told The Associated Press.

News of the marines' detention by Gadhafi came a day after the Libyan Human Rights League estimated the death toll in the conflict stood at 6,000, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

On Wednesday, anti-government rebels fought off forces loyal to Gadhafi — who were supported by airstrikes — in a fierce battle for Brega, a strategic oil facility 460 miles east of Gadhafi's stronghold in Tripoli.

On Thursday, witnesses told Reuters that a warplane had again bombed Brega while about 50 miles to the east rebels shored up the defenses of the town of Ajdabiya with rocket launchers, anti-tank aircraft guns and tanks.
Read the rest here.

1 comment:

The Anti-Gnostic said...

The steady drum beat of entangling alliances gets louder. Are these "Dutch marines" or "NATO troops?"