Gaddafi forces routed in Misrata

• Air strikes force government tanks to retreat from Misrata • Nato to assume day-to-day military command in Libya • Obama says Gaddafi may wait out military assault • Gaddafi tells supporters: ‘We will not surrender’ • Read a summary of events so far • Read out latest Libya news story 6.48pm: From the naval air base of Sigonella in Italy, a key stating post for the air strikes on Libya, Tom Kington has some more detail shedding light on the injuring of a number of villagers close to where a US fighter jet crased on Monday night: American fighter aircraft fired cannons to protect a downed US pilot in Libya on Tuesday, close to where local residents were reportedly injured by gunfire, a US military source revealed. The source’s statement on Wednesday could explain how at least eight Libyans near the scene were wounded by gunfire. The US military denied early reports that two helicopters arriving to collect the pilot in the early hours of Tuesday fired on locals. The source said Harrier jump jets that had arrived at the scene before the helicopters “strafed” the ground as they flew low over a group of vehicles indicated as a potential threat to the pilot. A second source told the Guardian the vehicles were targeted about three miles from the stranded pilot, about 30 minutes before the helicopters arrived. The pilot and a crew member had parachuted from their F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft after it suffered a mechanical failure during a raid near Benghazi, parachuting to separate locations. Two Osprey tiltrotor aircraft were dispatched from the USS Kearsarge off the Libyan coast to pick up the pilot, located thanks to a GPS signal, the source said. The second crew member could not be traced by rescuers because his GPS was not transmitting, he said. He was met by locals who took him and gave him shelter. He is now reportedly at Aviano air base in northern Italy. 6.44pm: Canadian forces have carried out their first attacks in the UN-sponsored campaign to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, dropping four laser-guided bombs on an ammunition depot, according to the Associated Press news agency. Maj.-Gen. Tom Lawson, the deputy chief of air force staff, said that four CF-18 jet fighters, supported by two air-to-air refueling aircraft, conducted two separate bombing runs on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The first attack took place overnight near Misrata, Libya’s third-largest city, located east of Tripoli. He had no information on where the second attack place or what kind of damage it may have inflicted. 6.40pm: British aircraft flew over Libya today but for the second day running took no part in attacks, according to defence officials, reports Richard Norton-Taylor, the Guardian’s security expert. British aircraft flew over Libya today but for the second day running took no part in attacks, according to defence officials, reports Richard Norton-Taylor, the Guardian’s security expert. The commander of British aircraft operating over Libya has said that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s air force “no longer exists as a fighting force”. Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell said the allies could now operate “with near impunity” over the skies of Libya. He was speaking during a visit to RAF aircrew based at Gioia del Colle in southern Italy. Ten Eurofighter/Typhoons and eight Tornado GR4s ground attack aircraft are now based there. “We are watching over the innocent people of Libya and ensuring that we protect them from attack” Bagwell said. “We have the Libyan ground forces under constant observation and we attack them whenever they threaten civilians or attack population centres.” US, British, and French aircraft have flown more than 300 sorties over Libya since Saturday and more than 162 Tomahawk cruise missiles have been fired. Four Tornado planes based at RAF Marham in Norfolk flew direct to Libya on the first two nights. The Trafalgar class submarines , HMS Triumph, has fired Tomahawk cruise missiles but less than its full complement of 16, it is understood. David Cameron told MPs that the Qataris on Tuesday deployed Mirage aircraft while Kuwait and Jordan would be providing “logistical contributions”, adding that “further support will be forthcoming” from Arab countries. He said 11 nations had contributed 150 aircraft to operations over Libya but a “lot more remained to be done”. 6.34pm: To Syria briefly now, and Amnesty International has condemned last night’s attack on a mosque by Syrian security forces who are reported to have killed at least seven people. . The human rights organisation said that internet activists were among at least 93 people detained in a wave of arrests across the country. Amnesty said that videos sent by human rights activists appear to show armed forces shooting in the mosque area while civilians plead for them to stop. It quoted local sources who named those those killed as ‘Omar ‘Abd al-Wali, Muhammad Abu al-Eyoun, Hamid Abu Nabbout, Dr Ghassan ‘Ali al-Mahameed, Ashraf Masalma, Ibtisam Masalma and Tahir Masalma. The 93 who were arrested are believed to be aged between 14 and 45 and include five women. Some did not take part in the street protests but appear to have been arrested for their activities on the internet, according to Amnesty. 6.21pm: Our colleague, Mona Mahmood, has been scanning the Arabic and Libyan press for comments. After an earlier post , here are some more snippets. Al-Shams, a Libyan newspaper based in Tripoli This aggression will be foiled in the same way the US barbaric aggression against Libya in 1986 was foiled and our slogan is ” Victory or Martyrdom”, it is not a strange slogan to us, we the son of hero martyr ” Omer Al-Mukhtar” who held this slogan against the Italian invaders. Libya Al-Youm, a Libyan newspaper based in Switzerland Misratta is still standing and steadfast because of the bravery of its young men. The signals of collapse in Gaddafi ‘s regime became very clear and that means the balance of victory is going in the direction of the people revolution forces and the coming weeks will carry a lot of surprises. 6.00pm: Good evening and welcome to our continuing coverage of the Libya crisis. Our earlier live coverage can be found here . Let’s start with a summary. • Allied air strikes have virtually wiped out Muammar Gaddafi’s forces that were attacking the rebel-held town of Misrata. The aerial attacks have ended five days of bloody assault that cost nearly 100 lives. • The rebel council in Benghazi has created a governing body. Mahmoud Jibril, a US-educated planning expert who defected from the Gaddafi regime, has been named as its head. • Gaddafi promised victory to an enthusiastic crowd in his first public appearance in a week late on Tuesday. He said there would be “no surrender” to powers who belonged “on the dust heap of history”. Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Muammar Gaddafi Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk

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