Strike one! A coalition of Western nations finally went on the offensive against Libyan madman Moammar Khadafy Saturday, with French fighters blasting these government vehicles advancing on rebel-held Benghazi.
REUTERS
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U.S. ships and submarines launched 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the country’s air defenses, like this one fired from the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry.
ZUMAPRESS.com
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Night-vision lenses aboard the amphibious transport dock USS Ponce capture the missile’s flight as it launches from the Barry.
AP
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A tank belonging to forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy explodes after an air strike by coalition forces near Benghazi.
REUTERS
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A rebel fighter shouts “Allahu Akbar!” (God is the greatest!) in front of a burning vehicle belonging to forces loyal to Khadafy along a road between Benghazi and Ajdabiyah.
REUTERS
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Rebel fighters watch burning government vehicle after an air strike near Benghazi.
REUTERS
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People celebrate atop a destroyed tank belonging to forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Khadaffy.
REUTERS
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War machine: Air crew prepare a French Dassault Mirage 2000-5 aircraft before a mission to overfly Libyan airspace.
REUTERS
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A pilot sits in the cockpit of a French Dassault Mirage 2000-5 aircraft before taking off for LIbya.
REUTERS
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A French Mirage 2000-5 fighter plane takes off from a military base in Dijon, France, headed for Libya. French planes fired the first shots of the operation, destroying tanks before allies launched missile strikes.
EPA
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A rebel fighter runs for cover in front of vehicles belonging to forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi after an air strike by coalition forces, along a road between Benghazi and Ajdabiyah March 20, 2011. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic (LIBYA – Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT)
REUTERS
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Libyan rebels walk past wrecked military vehicles belonging government forces bombed by the French airforce in al-Wayfiyah.
AFP/Getty Images
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These pro-government tanks were no match for coalition airpower. French jets destroyed tanks advancing on rebel-held Benghazi.
REUTERS
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A Libyan man gestures next to a bus burning on a road leading to the outskirts of Benghazi.
AP
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A soldier from the Libyan army loyal to Libya’s leader Moammar Khadafy stands at Green Square in Tripoli. The LIbyan stronman has threatened to use supporters as “human shields.”
REUTERS
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A Royal Air Force air-to-air refuelling VC10 aircraft takes off at RAF Brize Norton in central England.
Reuters
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The Libyan army fires anti-aircraft missiles during air strikes by coalition forces in Tripoli. There were no reports of damage done to coalition forces.
REUTERS
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U.S. Naval Air Crewman 2nd Class Jordan Orr, checks the mount for a machine gun on an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter on the flight deck of USS Kearsarge.
Getty Images
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A French Rafale fighter jet being refuelled mid-air by a tanker from the fday of military operations.
EPA
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An Italian Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon lands at the Birgi NATO Airbase in Trapani in the southern Italian island of Sicily.
REUTERS
