CNN news 2011-03-22 加文本

cnn news 2011-03-22

CARL AZUZ, cnn STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Military action is underway in the skies over Libya, and the U.S. is one of several countries involved. It's our first story in the week's first edition of cnn Student News.

First Up: Libya Civil War

AZUZ: It's called "Operation Odyssey Dawn," and the goal is to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. The United Nations Security Council voted for that no-fly zone late last week. The coalition responsible for enforcing it is made up of forces from the U.S., Great Britain and France, among others.

After the Security Council's vote, Libya's government declared a cease-fire in its fighting with rebel forces. And it invited representatives from other nations to come to Libya to make sure the cease-fire was real. Coalition forces were convinced that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was not following the rules of the cease-fire. On Saturday, the coalition attacked. You can hear the sounds of gunfire in the capital city of Tripoli. A U.S. commander said missiles landed near the capital and around other cities as part of these attacks.

The fighting between Colonel Gadhafi's forces and rebels raged on in other cities, like Benghazi. Here, you can see a fighter jet that was shot down over Benghazi on Saturday. Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday that coalition forces had taken out most of Libya's air defense systems. But Admiral Mullen also said the U.S. role in "Operation Odyssey Dawn" would be limited, saying "we're not going to put any boots on the ground."

Colonel Gadhafi? He's harshly criticized the other countries getting involved with the civil war in Libya. He called the coalition forces "terrorists" and promised a "long-drawn war." But Sunday, a spokesman for the Libyan military called for another cease-fire.