Nato admits strike on Libya rebels
Nato has admitted its planes struck rebels using tanks in their fight with the government forces in eastern Libya.
Rear Admiral Russell Harding, the deputy commander of the Nato operation, says Nato had no previous information the rebels were operating tanks.
At least five rebel fighters were killed on Thursday when their combat convoy was hit by a Nato air strike. Adm Harding said the military alliance would not apologise for those deaths.
He added that the situation between the towns of Brega and Ajdabiya remains fluid, with the opposing forces engaged in a series of advances and retreats, making it difficult for pilots to distinguish between them.
The admiral also said that Nato jets had conducted 318 sorties and struck 23 targets in the past 48 hours.
The admission increased anger among Libyan anti-government forces after the second bungled mission in a week blamed on the military alliance.
The friendly fire attack outside the strategic oil port of Brega brought fresh questions about co-ordination between Nato and the patchwork of rebel militias in a conflict described by a senior US commander as a stalemate that could eventually require the Pentagon to reassert more power, and possibly even send in ground forces.
Tensions between the rebels and Nato were flaring even before the latest accident, with the fighters criticising the alliance for doing too little to help them.
