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Libyan troops

Libya: Libyan forces pounded rebel cities on Wednesday with tank fire forcing civilians to flee as a top British officer said Muammar al-Gaddafi's air force had been almost obliterated.

As an armada of NATO warships patrolled Libya's coast to enforce an arms embargo against Gaddafi, fresh efforts to hand the alliance command of the military operations collapsed after days of sometimes acrimonious debate.

A NATO diplomat said the 28-nation alliance would try again on Thursday to reach a decision on whether NATO should take charge of the operation launched on Saturday by Britain, France and the United States.

But nations were already hailing the success of the air strikes, with British Air Vice Marshal Greg Bagwell saying Libya's air force has been almost totally obliterated and "no longer exists as a fighting force."

US officials are also openly speculating whether the continued pressure will force Gaddafi out of power after four decades in control.

At the end of a day of bitter fighting in key rebel strongholds, pro-Gaddafi forces pounded a hospital in the western city of Misrata, a rebel spokesman said.

Witnesses also reported a huge blast at a military base in the Tajura residential neighbourhood some 32 kilometres (20 miles) east of the capital, while anti-aircraft fire was heard as warplanes thundered over Tripoli.
The official JANA news agency said coalition raids on Tajura killed "a large number" of civilians.

Tajura was struck three times, the agency said, adding the third raid "targeted rescuers who were trying to remove the dead and wounded from the rubble and the destruction caused by the first two raids."

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