U.S. Continues Support of NATO Operations in Libya

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 19, 2011 – A U.S. military fighter jet destroyed two of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s surface-to-air missile sites near the Libyan capital of Tripoli yesterday, continuing U.S. support of NATO operations there, officials reported.

Since NATO took the lead of multilateral operations in Libya on April 1, U.S. military aircraft have flown more than 800 sorties in support of Operation Unified Protector. More than 150 of those sorties have been “suppression of enemy air defense” missions, eight of which included ordnance drops, officials said.

The tempo of NATO operations in Libya remains high, alliance spokesman Oana Lungescu told reporters today from NATO headquarters in Belgium. Allied aircraft have flown more than 2,800 missions, about half of which were airstrikes on Gadhafi’s forces and facilities.

“We are keeping up the pressure on the Gadhafi regime forces to stop their brutal onslaught against civilians,” Lungescu said. “It’s a challenging task, but we are making significant progress in weakening Gadhafi’s ability to use his military machine against his own people.”

Brig. Gen. Mark van Uhm of the Dutch army, chief of NATO’s allied operations, said the situation on the ground in Libya remains fluid and dynamic. The arms embargo and no-fly zone over Libya are proving to be effective, he said.

Over the past week, NATO aircraft have destroyed ammunition bunkers, tanks, radars and other Gadhafi military equipment and will continue to launch attacks until Gadhafi yields his campaign, the general said.

“We are steadily degrading his command and control capabilities and his ability to sustain forces on the ground,” he said. “We are maintaining a high operational tempo, and we adjust our operations on a daily basis against what is clearly a rapidly changing environment on the ground.”

Offensive strike missions will continue until a clear signal comes through that civilians are not under threat, he added.