OTTAWA - Four Canadian warplanes have again bombed a Libyan ammunition dump south of the embattled city of Misrata.
The second raid on the target, initially hit on Monday, was ordered during the last 24 hours after surveillance images showed some bunkers survived the first attack.
Lt.-Col. Chris Lemay, a spokesman for the Ottawa-based Canadian Forces Expeditionary Command, says the CF-18s completed their mission and returned to base in Trepani, Italy without incident.
He had no information on casualties on the ground.
The Canadian strike took place amid some of the heaviest bombardment of the air war as American ships and submarines in the Mediterranean unleashed a barrage of cruise missiles at Libyan missile storage facilities in the Tripoli area.
It also came as a Libyan gunboat fired on merchant ships in the waters off Misrata. A U.S. P-3C Orion patrol plane was in the vicinity and fired missiles at the patrol ship, forcing the 12-metre vessel to run aground.
An American A-10 Thunderbolt, normally used against tanks, also attacked two Libyan ships near Misrata, which has been under siege by forces loyal to dictator Moammar Gadhafi. One vessel was destroyed while the other was abandoned, said a NATO coalition statement.
The attacks on the ships were justified as being in defence of civilians. Critics are becoming more alarmed at the scope of the bombings and Russia's envoy to NATO said the coalition had exceeded its mandate.
Lemay said a Canadian CP-140 aircraft flew a long-range patrol of the Libyan coastline on Tuesday, but encountered no resistance. Unlike the American P-3s, the Canadian Auroras are not equipped with missiles.
If they were fired on, they'd have to take evasive action and call for help.
Misrata is fast becoming a major focus for Gadhafi's troops and over the last few days they threw more tanks and troops at the rebel-held town, the country's third-largest community.
As many as 140 civilians have been reported killed in fierce fighting. There are reports of random artillery barrages on civilian populated areas.
Senior world diplomats, meeting at crisis talks in London, pointed to the slaughter in Misrata as proof Gadhafi must go, but the official position of the coalition nations remains that regime change is not their goal.
Gadhafi's forces have kept their tanks close to residential neighbourhoods and hospitals in Misrata, a tactic that's kept NATO warplanes away for fear of civilian casualties.
Sweden, which is not a member of NATO, said it would send eight fighter jets to help enforce the United Nations-authorized no-fly zone over Libya. Turkey said it also will likely join the group.
