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Ten Libyan Rebels Dead After NATO Airstrike

Jessika Walsten |
April 2, 2011 | 10:59 a.m. PDT

Deputy Editor

Armed rebels returning from outside Brega. (Photo by Al Jazeera English)
Armed rebels returning from outside Brega. (Photo by Al Jazeera English)
NATO is looking into reports that a coalition airstrike near the eastern town of Brega killed at least 10 rebels.

Coalition warplanes accidentally hit a convoy of Libyan pro-democracy forces after anti-aircraft shots were fired into the air.

Rebel fighters say the shots weren't fired by them, but rather infiltrators.

"Some of Gaddafi's forces sneaked in among the rebels and fired anti-aircraft guns in the air," said Mustafa Ali Omar, a pro-democracy fighter. "After that the NATO forces came and bombed them."

At least four vehicles were seen burning after the strike, witnesses say.

CTV has more reports from people in the area:

Mohammad Bedrise, a doctor in a nearby hospital, said three burned bodies had been brought in by men who said they had been hit after firing a heavy machine-gun in the air in celebration. Idris Kadiki, a 38-year-old mechanical engineer, said he had seen an ambulance and three cars burning after an airstrike.

Fighting in Brega, a town about 800 km from the Libyan capital of Tripoli, had been intense the last few days.

Al Jazeera reports, though, that the rebels my have gotten the upper hand:

The reports came as pro-democracy forces claimed victory over Gaddafi troops in the battle for Brega after heavy clashes.

Fighting appeared to have subsided on Saturday morning on the outskirts of the town and only the sound of NATO fighters flying overhead disturbed the calm.

Several residents told the AFP news agency that pro-democracy forces had recaptured the town and were trying to seek out a group of pro-Gaddafi snipers who were still active.

The airstrike came a day after the Libyan government rejected a ceasefire.

"They are asking us to withdraw from our own cities. .... If this is not mad then I don't know what this is. We will not leave our cities," said Mussa Ibrahim Friday, the government spokesman, of the proposed ceasefire.



 

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