Tripoli, April 17: NATO is facing shortage of precision bombs and other munitions as the military coalition urges its allies to contribute more to the Libyan war, reports say.
The shortage exposes the limitations of Britain, France and other European countries in sustaining even a relatively small military action, The Washington Post reported on Friday, citing unnamed senior NATO and US officials.
Currently, only six countries from the 28-member NATO are conducting air strikes, with France and Britain carrying out half of the military airstrikes, while Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Canada conducting the other half.
According to the report, lack of warplanes and munitions have prompted grave concerns among some NATO officials, prompting them to call on the US to return to the NATO-led military operations in the North African country.
Military action in Libya was first launched by Britain, France and the United States on March 19, but NATO took over the operations two weeks ago. Afterwards, the US pulled 50 of its combat planes from front-line missions, still maintaining some of its operations against the forces loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
France and Britain have urged other NATO countries to contribute more warplanes capable of hitting Gaddafi’s armor. However, the United State has not answered the call to restart the aerial strikes in the North African country.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who had personally urged US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to lay the groundwork for resumption of Washington’s operations in Libya, said his plea has been rejected.
Germany and Turkey have rebuffed calls to join the war, while Spain continues to provide only aircraft support, and Italy has voiced reservations about NATO’s demands for increased military presence.
Leaders of the world’s five major emerging powers, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, have expressed concerns over the prolonged war in Libya, saying that the NATO-led campaign on crisis-hit Libya has caused civilian casualties.
The situation in Misratah, with a population of more than half a million located only 130 miles east of Tripoli, is desperate as people continue to suffer from scarcity of food, water and medical supplies as the result of a six-week siege.
NATO has come under intense grilling over its lack of response to protect civilians and avoid human losses while at times even targeting civilians through airstrikes.
——-Agencies