NATO air strikes up pressure on Gaddafi

BRITISH jets hit a military barracks in the Libyan capital early yesterday, further intensifying NATO pressure on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to end his 42-year rule.

The air strikes on the barracks — a repeated targets of NATO strikes — followed the alliance’s first use of attack helicopters on Saturday.

By intensifying attacks from the air and using helicopters to target government forces who melt into the civilian population for cover, NATO is providing a major boost to Libyan rebel forces who have seized much of the country’s east and toeholds in the west in the four-month uprising.