British
Royal Navy ships and Royal Air Force aircraft have continued operations
this week to help safeguard the Libyan people as part of NATO's Operation
UNIFIED PROTECTOR. October 13, 2011, afternoon, an armed reconnaissance
patrol of RAF Tornado GR4s was alerted by another NATO surveillance platform
to the presence of three former Gaddafi regime armed trucks hidden beneath
trees to the east of Bani Walid. |
The vehicles were successfully engaged by British Aor
Force aircraft, using Paveway guided bombs, and destroyed.
On October 12, 2011, British Royal air Force RAF aircraft formed part
of NATO's continuous armed reconnaissance presence over the disputed
cities of Sirte and Bani Walid.
During the course of the afternoon they succeeded in identifying a pick-up
truck, armed with an anti-aircraft artillery piece, in use by Colonel
Gaddafi's remaining troops in Bani Walid. A Brimstone missile, launched
from a Tornado GR4, scored a direct hit on the vehicle and left it ablaze.
Three hours later, a similar patrol over Sirte was tasked to engage
a second such armed vehicle which a NATO surveillance asset had spotted.
Once again, a direct hit from a Brimstone missile destroyed the vehicle
outright.
In the early hours of Monday morning, two formations of RAF Tornado
GR4s mounted a strike on a missile depot still held by Colonel Gaddafi's
forces near Bani Walid. Our aircraft dropped seven Paveway laser and
GPS guided bombs, scoring direct hits which inflicted very severe damage
on the facility.
At sea, HMS Bangor is currently conducting maritime security patrols
off Misurata, helping maintain confidence in the safe movement of merchant
vessels to and from Libya's ports as the new authorities work hard at
restoring normal commercial operations.
With her advanced minehunting equipment, Bangor is very well suited
to identifying and neutralising any legacy threats from Colonel Gaddafi's
regime, such as the abandoned mine and torpedo which she located and
destroyed on the seabed off Tobruk earlier this month.
UK missions over Libya are undertaken as part of NATO's Operation UNIFIED
PROTECTOR to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1970
and 1973 and protect Libyan civilians at risk of attack.
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