NATO Strikes Hit Qaddafi Bunker

The AP reports:

Government troops retreated to the outskirts of Misrata under rebel fire Saturday and the opposition claimed victory after officials in Tripoli decided to pull back forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi following nearly two months of laying siege to the western city.

The Pentagon, meanwhile, said the U.S. Air Force carried out its first Predator missile strike in Libya on Saturday, but gave no details. The only reported airstrike Saturday was a hit near Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli that the government said caused no injuries.

Opposition forces in Libya's third-largest city had held firm after being pounded by the government's heavy weapons for weeks. On Friday, a top Libyan official said troops would be withdrawn and local tribes would take up the fight — a notion scoffed at by rebels.

A rebel activist in the Misrata questioned how much support Moammar Gadhafi had among the local tribes.

"This whole move is just to buy time," he added, expecting further attacks.

For now, however, most of the city of 300,000 people was calm, with rebel forces taking over several key buildings that had been filled with government soldiers, including snipers. An eight-story insurance building — pockmarked by shells and scorched around the windows — had been used by snipers because it was the tallest in central Misrata and commanded a view of the city.

"After they heard the news, people began breathing freely. The women were making ululations and they went onto the streets beeping their car horns," said the activist, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal.

The only fighting Saturday was on the eastern outskirts of the city, where about 150 pro-Gadhafi soldiers trying to withdraw were fighting rebels, he said, adding that ambulances were picking up dead and injured.