NATO had used on Saturday for the first time attack helicopters in its military campaign over Libya, the alliance said.
NATO had used on Saturday for the first time attack helicopters in its military campaign over Libya, the alliance said.
"Attack helicopters under NATO command were used for the first time on 4 June 2011 in military operations over Libya as part of Operation Unified Protector", the Atlantic Alliance said in a statement.
"The targets struck included military vehicles, military equipment and fielded forces" of the embattled strongman Muammar Gaddafi regime, said the statement, without detailing exactly where the strikes had taken place.
Commander in Chief of the NATO campaign in Libya, Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, said using of helicopters “demonstrates the unique possibilities offered" by using combat helicopters.
It “provides the NATO operation with additional flexibility to track and engage pro-Gaddafi forces who deliberately target civilians and attempt to hide in populated areas", Bouchard said in statement.
"We will continue to use these means when and where necessary, with the same precision as in all our missions", the Canadian officer added.
NATO forces "are constantly reviewing their operations and use of available assets, including attack helicopters, to best maintain the momentum and increase the pressure on pro-Gaddafi forces."
The statement recalled that NATO's operation was being conducted under UN Security Resolution 1973, which did not authorize the sending of troops to occupy Libya but "which calls for an immediate end to all attacks against civilians and authorized all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in Libya."
British Apache helicopters took part in the attacks. A spokeswoman of Ministry of Defense in London confirmed the event as saying: "Yes, we confirm" the intervention.
France was contributing four Tigre attack helicopters while Britain offered four Apaches, NATO military officials said, adding that the helicopters were being prepared to fly over sea water and desert conditions.
