Children of evacuees were playing cards Thursday on a ship which took residents injured and blocked foreign refugees in the city of Benghazi Libya Misrata.President Barack Obama has approved the use of UAVs armed Libya, allowing U.S. airstrikes on ground forces for the first time since America is for the control of the operation to NATO, April 4.
It is also the first time that UAVs will be used for air strikes since the conflict started March 19, although they routinely flying surveillance missions, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told reporters in a Pentagon briefing Thursday in.
In the field, Libyan rebels said Thursday they had control of a position in the Tunisian border, forcing the Government soldiers to flee over the border and possibly open a new channel for the forces of the opposition stronghold of Muammar al-Gaddafi in the West of the Libya.
In the stronghold of the rebels of Benghazi in eastern Libya, at the same time, relief workers and medical teams are waiting for the arrival of a passenger ferry carrying about 1,000 people - mostly Libyan civilians and of Asia and Africa - workers out of the besieged city of Misratathe exclusion of rebels in the territory of Gaddafi.
The ship also carried the body of a documentary filmmaker named the Oscar of Britain and an American photographer killed covering clashes Wednesday. A day earlier, the ferry arrived in Misrata, in offering food and medical supplies to the besieged population.
Elsewhere, British Prime Minister David Cameron insisted Thursday that NATO is not edging towards the deployment of ground forces in Libya - despite the decision of several European nations to send military personnel to assist rebel forces.
Italy, the France and Britain are sending combat experienced advisors to help to train and organize the Libya opposition forces as they struggle to loosen the grip of Gaddafi on power.
Marine General James Cartwright, vice Chairman of the joint staff, said the drones could help to counter the tactic of forces pro-Gaddafi travel in civilian vehicles that make it difficult to distinguish from the rebel forces.
"What they bring that is unique to the conflict is their ability to put down, so to be able to get better visibility on targets that have started to dig in defensive positions," Cartwright said. "They are particularly suitable for urban areas".
Gates has rejected the idea that drone strikes approval means that the United States will be slowly get fired in a more active role in combat, despite the promise of the Obama to simply provide support for NATO.
The first predator of the mission given the green light from the Obama took place Thursday, but the plane - armed missile Hellfire - turned back because of bad weather without making its ammunition, Cartwright said.
The capture reported border crossing followed three days of intense fighting outside the city of Nalut desert, 140 km southwest of Tripoli, said Chief rebel, Shaban Abu Sitta. Taking the passage could open channels of supply important for anti-Gaddafi force.
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