Libyan rebels blame NATO for airstrike Bombing killed four in tank convoy

ZUEITINA, Libya — The commander of the rebel army said it was “likely’’ that NATO warplanes conducted an airstrike against a convoy of rebel tanks yesterday, killing at least four people in the second case of friendly fire in less than a week.
The commander, General Abdul Fattah Younes, said the tanks — deployed by the rebels yesterday to the front lines for the first time — came under “a fierce attack’’ around 10:30 a.m. “It is likely it is NATO by mistake,’’ he said, adding that the rebels had notified NATO well in advance that the tanks were headed to the battlefield.

Younes said he was still waiting for an apology from the organization. “It is not possible to make a mistake with 20 tanks advancing on a large patch of desert land,’’ he said. “We hope that such a mistake will not be repeated.’’

He did not say how many tanks were destroyed, but a tank driver in the convoy said eight were damaged or destroyed.

A NATO official in Brussels said the organization was looking into the rebels’ account.

If the convoy was struck by a NATO aircraft, it would serve to underscore the lack of coordination between the Western alliance and the Libyan rebels.

The strike, against 17 rebel tanks making their debut on the battlefield, was a particularly untimely setback for a campaign that had lost momentum in the past week and has withered before Moammar Khadafy forces’ overwhelming advantage in equipment and heavy weapons. Yesterday, Younes said trainers from Qatar were teaching rebel fighters how to use antitank weapons.

The rebels have been hinting for several days that they would soon unveil a surprise at the front. Survivors of the attack said their convoy included equipment confiscated from Khadafy’s military that in recent weeks had been refurbished and made roadworthy. They said it was being brought forward for a fresh attack against the oil town of Brega, which fell to the loyalists this week.

Shortly before the attack, about 30 miles southwest of Ajdabiya, the convoy stopped on the side of the road, said Alsounese Fazan, who was driving a jeep. Fazan, who was being treated for minor injuries in Benghazi, said the rebels heard the sound of what they thought were NATO aircraft.

“We shouted ‘God is great,’ and after that we heard nothing. And then they bombed us.’’ He said that he saw four separate explosions.

Another wounded fighter, Amin Jaman, 32, said that all of the vehicles in the convoy were flying the bright, tricolor Libyan rebel flag.

This would be the second time in less than a week that NATO warplanes struck a rebel target. On Saturday, Western warplanes killed 13 rebels in the same region of eastern Libya, where they have been fighting a seesaw battle for weeks with the better equipped and trained Khadafy forces.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2011/04/08/libyan_rebels_blame_nato_for_airstrike/