On May 23rd (23/5/11) France announced that NATO will be deploying attack helicopters to support Libyan rebel forces against Libyan government forces. What actually happened was that France parked the Tonnerre aircraft carrier equipped with 12 Tiger and Gazelle attack helicopters off the coast of Libya in an attempt to force NATO into giving them permission to deploy them.
In Libya itself the situation remains rather constant with rebel and government forces exchanging fire around Misrata and Ajdabiya with little progress being made. However on the night of May 23rd British and French aircraft carried out the most intense series of air raids of the entire conflict. In the space of 30 minutes wave after wave of aircraft attacked 20 targets in the capital Tripoli killing at least 3 civilians and wounding at least 150 more. Similar air raids were also carried out at/near Zintan, Misrata and Ajdabiya. If all the media reports are correct then NATO dropped a day and a half worth of bombs in the space of 30 minutes. No wonder foreign correspondents are describing the raids as NATO trying to send a message.
Of course this night of shock and awe comes on the day that US President, Barack Obama arrives in Britain for a state visit that will see him also visit France on Thursday and Friday. So I can't see how Britain and France can even pretend that these raids had anything to do with Libya.
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