AFP - The international coalition has stepped up pressure Thursday on Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, with new air strikes, when the NATO countries were an agreement to take over military command of operations.
According to a preliminary assessment submitted by a spokesman for the Libyan regime, the raids of the coalition were "about 100 deaths" among civilians since the offensive began March 19.
For its part, the military commander of the coalition, General Carter Ham, said he did not "make sure there were no civilian casualties"."But we're very, very precise and selective in our targets," he said.
The Libyan authorities have indicated they expect raids on centers of telecommunications and broadcasting services in the evening, based on "intelligence information".
In the morning, France had said that the coalition would "continue the air strikes" on military targets, "the time".
On Thursday, a plane of the Libyan forces was destroyed on the ground by a French fighter plane in Misrata (200 km east of Tripoli), said the staff of the armies in Paris.
The coalition has also targeted the region Tajoura, about thirty miles east of Tripoli, according to residents.State television confirmed that "civilians and military sites" of this region had been the target of raids.
In Tripoli, the firing of air defense and several loud explosions were heard Thursday morning and evening, according to an AFP journalist.
The DCA went into action from 1900 GMT and at least one explosion was heard from the center of Tripoli.Two explosions were heard also in Tajoura (30 km from the capital), where a column of smoke coming from a site undetermined.
State television later reported that "civilian and military sites in Tripoli and Tajoura" were targets of "long-range missiles."
The coalition had conducted the night of Wednesday to Thursday of intensive air raids Sabha (750 km south of Tripoli), according to residents.The city, stronghold of the tribe of Gaddafi, is home to several military sites.
Fighting between pro-and anti-Gaddafi also continued in several cities, including Misrata.
The loyalist forces have killed 109 people and injured more than 1,300 since the start of their offensive last Friday, told AFP a doctor.
Snipers were firing on pro-Qaddafi in the afternoon from the roofs of buildings and gunfire rang out, said a spokesman for the rebels.
The coalition strikes were conducted Wednesday against Gaddafi's troops on the ground including Misrata third largest city.
Nearly Ajdabiya, 160 km south of Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in the east, a large number of insurgents were advancing quickly to regain control of this key city, according to an AFP journalist.Fighting was taking place within the city between rebels and pro-Gaddafi.
According to a spokesman for the insurgents in Benghazi, Ahmed Omar Bani, some pro-Gaddafi to Ajdabiya are "ready to go" and the insurgents communicate with them through religious leaders in mosques.
After negotiations with forceps, the NATO countries have reached an agreement in principle to take over military command of operations, replacing the coalition led by France, Great Britain and the United States.
NATO was currently charged with monitoring the embargo on arms sales to Libya.
"The NATO countries agree to start (the process) that will allow him to take over from the coalition on Monday or Tuesday," said one diplomat told AFP.
However, all details remained unresolved. Because Turkey is unhappy with the operating rules prescribed for the no-fly zone, to avoid stressing the bombing against ground targets, according to another diplomat.
Many Western countries insisted that NATO take over completely. But France, fearful of alienating Arab opinion, and anxious to keep a room for strikes without having to always seek the endorsement of NATO countries, has long been very reserved.
According to Paris, the "political leadership" of the intervention will remain outside NATO.It will be ensured by a "contact group" of countries participating in separate transactions, including the Arab League and African Union (AU).
The first meeting of this group is scheduled for Tuesday in London, attended by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"More than 350 aircraft" in the coalition are involved in air operations, including just over half are American, said a senior Pentagon official, who said the United States called the Libyan military to "stop to fight "against their own countrymen, and not to obey the orders of Colonel Gaddafi.
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon lamented his side that the Libyan authorities had taken no steps to fulfill their obligations under the resolution adopted by the Security Council, arguing that violations of human rights, man continued.
The AU called on Friday in Addis Ababa, representatives of Muammar Gaddafi and the rebels to discuss a cease-fire.
Colonel Gaddafi, in power for 42 years, faces from 15 February to a revolt that has left hundreds dead and forced more than 300,000 people to flee.
Here are liveblogging the events of Thursday, March 24 provided by the editors.
