Gadhafi troops took advantage of international indecision to attack heart of Benghazi city 1903111

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Defense News - The conflict in Libya
 

Saturday, March 19, 2011, 01:17 PM

 

Gadhafi troops took advantage of international indecision to attack the heart of Benghazi city.

 
 
Moammar Gadhafi took advantage of international indecision to attack the heart of the 5-week-old uprising on Saturday, sending troops, artillery and warplanes to swarm the first city seized by the rebels. Crashing shells shook buildings, and the sounds of battle drew closer to Benghazi's center.
     
Moammar Gadhafi took advantage of international indecision to attack the heart of the 5-week-old uprising on Saturday, sending troops, artillery and warplanes to swarm the first city seized by the rebels. Crashing shells shook buildings, and the sounds of battle drew closer to Benghazi's center.
Libyan jet bomber as it crashes after being hit over Benghazi on March 19, 2011
     

Leaders from the Arab world, the United States and other Western powers are holding urgent talks in Paris over possible military action, and France's ambassador to the United Nations, Gerard Araud, told BBC Newsnight that he expected military action to begin within hours of the meeting. Gadafhi warned international forces: "You will regret it if you dare to intervene in our country."

This Saturday March 19, 2011, , a warplane was shot down over the outskirts of Benghazi, sending up a massive black cloud of smoke. An Associated Press reporter saw the plane go down in flames and heard the sound of artillery and crackling gunfire.

Abdel-Hafez, a 49-year-old Benghazi resident, said rebels and government soldiers were fighting on a university campus on the south side of the city, with government tanks moving in, followed by ground troops.