Witnesses say Libyan rebels shoot down planes bombing (Benghazi) airport

[Turborama]

Source: AP

TOBRUK, Libya — Witnesses say Libyan rebels have shot down at least two bombers attacking the airport in the main rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

And a rebel spokesman says opposition fighters used three of their own seized planes and some helicopters to attack government troops advancing on the city.

Despite those successes, the rebels have been unable to keep Moammar Gadhafi's forces from surrounding the rebel-held city of Ajdabiya (ahj-DAH'-bee-yah), 100 miles to the south. It's the last major city between Gadhafi's forces and Benghazi.

Government forces are also warning residents of Benghazi that they're closing in on that city. A message on state television warns them to stay away from weapons storage sites and groups of armed men, saying the army is coming to "cleanse your city of the armed gangs."


Read more: http://www.necn.com/03/17/11/Witnesses-say-rebels-shoot-down-planes-b/landing_nation.html?&blockID=3&apID=d71ad378646142b0b3d00a84c549f516

[defendandprotect]

1. kr

[Plucketeer]

2. More power to the rebels!

I sure hope the self-appointed global cops stay out of this!

[Recursion]

4. We'll see

The majority of foreign fighters in Iraq came from eastern Libya.

[Turborama]

5. Where does that statistic come from? n/t

[Recursion]

7. I think CFR first came out with it

Here's a quick summary: http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/iraq_foreign_fighters_mostly_saudis_and_libyans/

(They also make the excellent point that foreign fighters were only a tiny percentage of combatants in Iraq; for the two cents it's worth the only two I ran across in my deployment there were both Moroccan.)

[Turborama]

8. That article says at the time the majority were Saudi and that 18 percent were Libyan

No mention of which region of Libya, either.

Out of curiosity, I had a look for some details and found these stats in Wikipedia showing that Egyptians topped the list in 2005 (the years with the dubious distinction of having "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War#2005:_Elections_and_transitional_government">the bloodiest month since the invasion")...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_insurgency#Foreign_fighter_nationality_distribution">Iraqi Insurgency: Foreign Fighter Nationality Distribution

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Turborama.

[closeupready]

6. K&R

nt

[pinboy3niner]

9. K&R