20110325
presstv
Latest reports indicate that US-led Western warplanes have struck Libyan ground forces for a seventh consecutive day near strategically-important towns.

Tripoli residents reported several air raids just before dawn on Friday. Witnesses said the airstrikes were followed by distant explosions and bursts of anti-aircraft gunfire.

The British Ministry of Defense said its Tornado aircraft fired guided Brimstone missiles at Libyan military units near the eastern frontline town of Ajdabiyah,150 km (90 miles) south of Benghazi on Thursday night.

Sources say French warplanes have also destroyed an artillery battery belonging to Gaddafi forces in the same region.

More than 350 aircraft are participating in the US-led airstrikes against Libya.

Medics say at least 109 people have been killed in the northwestern city of Misratah during a week of clashes between forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and opposition fighters.

At a seaside cemetery in Tripoli, people have organized a funeral for 33 civilians who were killed by the Western coalition on Wednesday. Angry protesters and witnesses say some the civilians were killed at a hospital in the city.

Meanwhile, NATO has agreed to take command of the coalition forces which are tasked with enforcing the UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya.

A senior US official says NATO will also command all other operations aimed at protecting civilians.

However, Turkey, a NATO member, has disagreed with the takeover of operations in Libya.

The Libya government says many civilians have been killed in US-led airstrikes.

This is while a senior French commander has cautioned that the conflict would not be quickly over in Libya

"I doubt that it will be days," France Info radio quoted Admiral Edouard Guillaud as saying. "I think it will be weeks. I hope it will not take months."

This is while the US defense secretary has recently said there is no timeline for the end of the US-led assault on Libya as international opposition to the invasion continues to grow.

During a visit to Cairo, Robert Gates said on Wednesday that no one was in a position to predict what would happen in Libya.