A French jet opened fire on one of Colonel Gaddafi's tanks at 18.45 Libyan time on Saturday (19 March) in the first strike of Operation Odyssey Dawn, a military campaign by a new EU-US-Arab coalition to protect Libyan civilians.
Reports indicate the French mission destroyed four tanks in total at a position near Benghazi after Gaddafi forces attacked the rebel stronghold earlier in the day.
British and US submarines and warships also fired dozens of cruise missiles at radars and...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.