Operation MOBILE enforces the UN ordered Resolution #1973 No Fly Zone over Libya made March 17, 2011. Canada unleashes Task Force Libeccio which is an air detachment which will do the enforcing. Six jet fighters, which they cutely refer to as a "six-pack", and an air-to-air refueling component are now operating out of the Italian Vincenzo Florio Airport and their first mission was an escort and patrol job on March 21. Their fist act of violence was the bombing of an ammunition dump in Misurata.
From the Prime Minister's website (March 19, 2011) "
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the following remarks at an emergency meeting on Libya: “First, I should like to thank President Sarkozy for convening this important and historic meeting. We have gathered here, leaders and representatives from North America and Europe, and the Arab League, because the embattled people of Libya have challenged us.
Do we believe in freedom, or do we just say we believe in freedom?
Earlier this week, the UN Security Council gave its answer. On Thursday, it passed a resolution authorizing additional sanctions and a no-fly zone to prevent the regime from bombing its own citizens. To enforce this resolution, Canadian aircraft and HMCS Charlottetown have joined an international force assembling in the region."
Photos provided by the Department of National Defence.
