Tripoli, March 20: Libyan officials have begun handing out weapons to more than a million of its citizens and will complete the operation “within hours,” state news agencies reported today.
The operation came after Muammar Gaddafi’s regime claimed 64 people died as a result of the Western air strikes on the country, up from an earlier figure of 48, but offered no evidence or further details.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told NBC that he had seen no reports of civilian casualties as a result of the coalition’s military operation.
—-Agencies