Britain runs short of targets in Libya

civilian infrastructure and vehicles, a defence ministry source said yesterday.

Britain is a leading member of a coalition enforcing a United Nations-mandated air campaign over Libya to protect civilians from Gaddafi’s forces, who have proved resilient despite nearly four months of devastating air strikes.

The length of the bombing campaign has raised concerns in Britain and abroad that coalition members, of whom many have cut defence spending to tackle budget deficits, will not be able to sustain the tempo of attacks.

“We’re not short of military assets. It’s the targets. There’s only so many targets you can take out whilst minimising civilian damage,” the senior source told Reuters.
“We’ve had credible intelligence that Gaddafi is using civilian warehouses. He’s definitely changing his tactics,” said the source, who also echoed Nato claims that Gaddafi’s forces were using civilian vehicles to deter air strikes.

Western states are frustrated by a five-month rebel campaign that – despite support from Nato warplanes – has failed to overthrow Gaddafi, and some governments are now looking instead to talks as a way out of the conflict. – Reuters.