U.S. Fighters Still Bombing Libya

AFP reports:

US fighter jets are still carrying out bombing raids on Libya's air defenses, the Pentagon said Wednesday, days after indicating American combat aircraft had withdrawn from NATO operations.

US warplanes have attacked air defense targets in three strikes since April 4, when NATO assumed command of the air campaign, spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said in a statement.

US military officials had previously said about 50 combat jets had been pulled back after the handover to NATO, and that air strikes would be carried out by allies while the United States would provide refueling and surveillance aircraft.

It was unclear why the Pentagon had waited to reveal the role of F-16 fighters helping to enforce the no-fly zone, but details emerged amid divisions within the NATO alliance over the air campaign.

Britain and France, which led the calls for international intervention to stop Moamer Kadhafi's attacks on his people, have pressed NATO allies to share more of the burden for the operation and deploy more combat aircraft.

Lapan said the combat flights by F-16 fighters were confined to striking radar and other air defenses as part of the UN-mandated no-fly zone in Libya.

But US combat aircraft were not part of bombing runs against tanks or other ground targets that fell under a separate UN-approved mission to protect civilians against Kadhafi's forces, he said.

For that mission, American ground-attack aircraft and other warplanes remain on standby pending a request from NATO.