Libyan troops dig in to defend Khadafy’s hometown

Rebel leaders acknowledged that they could not have held their ground over the last week without international air and cruise missile strikes, and General Carter F. Ham, the ranking American in the coalition operation, warned that the rebel gains could be quickly reversed without continued air support.

Libya state television reported new NATO air strikes after nightfall in the cities of Garyan and Mizda about 40 miles and 90 miles respectively from Tripoli.

NATO insisted that it was seeking only to protect civilians and not to give air cover to an opposition march. But that line looked set to become even more blurred. The airstrikes now are clearly enabling rebels bent on overthrowing Khadafy to push toward the final line of defense on the road to the capital.

Vice Admiral William Gortney, staff director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States was hitting Libyan targets with Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, designed to provide battlefield support to friendly ground forces.

Also joining the battle, he said, were Air Force AC-130 gunships, a low-flying aircraft armed with a 105mm howitzer and a 40mm cannon. Those two types of aircraft give the United States more ability to confront pro-Khadafy forces in urban areas with less risk of civilian casualties.

There was growing criticism from Russia and other countries that the international air campaign is overstepping the bounds of the UN resolution that authorized it. The complaints came at a critical transition in the campaign from a US to a NATO command. The change threatens to hamper the operation, as some of the 28 NATO member nations plan to limit their participation to air patrols, rather than attacks on ground targets.

Yesterday, rebel fighters moved about 70 miles west from the coastal oil terminal and town of Ras Lanuf to just beyond the small town of Bin Jawad, where their push was halted by government fire along the exposed desert highway and the heavily mined entrance to Surt.

The rebels are currently 60 miles from Surt, the bastion of Khadafy’s power in the center of the country.