UK steps up bombing of Gaddafi targets

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Source: The Guardian

Hours after the international criminal court chief prosecutor called for the arrest of Muammar Gaddafi and his closet advisers for mass murder, Britain stepped up its strikes on what military officials described as secret police compounds in Tripoli.

The submarine HMS Triumph fired Tomahawk cruise missiles and Tornado jets dropped bombs on a number of targets in Libya's capital. Tomahawks' electronic systems can distinguish between different buildings and are therefore suitable against urban targets, according to defence officials.

Danish planes also attacked targets in Tripoli in a series of attacks British defence officials made clear were also designed to signal that Nato was determined to extend its range of targets in a military campaign which, after nearly two months, shows little sign of leading to the collapse of the Libyan regime.

Major General John Lorimer, chief military spokesman at the Ministry of Defence, said the bombed targets "lay at the heart of the apparatus used by the regime to brutalise the civilian population". He added: "One of the intelligence facilities which was hit is known to play a significant role in the collection of information by Colonel Gaddafi's secret police, while the other was a headquarters for the external security organisation, commanded by Abdullah Senussi."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/17/uk-steps-up-bombing-gaddafi-targets