A US Air Force F-15 Eagle made an emergency landing in Libya, US military officials confirmed, with a spokesman saying there was no sign the aircraft had been brought down by hostile fire. One crew member was rescued; a search was underway for the second.
The incident fell on a third consecutive night of coalition air strikes against forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Anti-aircraft fire and explosions were reported near Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli, and Libyan state television said several sites across the capital had been hit.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said coalition aircraft struck the southern city of Sebha and a small port near Tripoli. A witness cited by AFP described bombardment of a naval base at Bussetta, roughly 10 kilometers east of the capital, while al-Jazeera reported that radar stations at two air bases near Benghazi were also targeted.
Ibrahim claimed the strikes caused civilian casualties at the airport in Sirte. In Misrata, the last rebel-held city in western Libya, a doctor said government shelling had overwhelmed the local clinic. Zintan, near the Tunisian border, also came under fire, with witnesses reporting 40 tanks on the outskirts and damage to homes and a mosque. In the east, Gaddafi's armor drove back rebel fighters near Ajdabiya.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in March 2011, in its own words.