U.S. Warplanes Pound Libyan Air Defenses, Gadhafi Defiant

U.S. and British warplanes pounded Libyan targets overnight after a barrage of Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from ships in the Mediterranean Sea took out critical Libyan air defenses in the western part of the country.

Four American B2 bombers dropped 16 bombs each, striking Libyan air bases and aircraft, mobile air defense units and some ground forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, a senior U.S. military official told ABC News.

"The assessment is still ongoing, but all indications are that B2s were effective against the targets they struck," the official said.

The attacks are the opening phase of an international military operation called Operation Odyssey Dawn that the Pentagon said was aimed at stopping Gadhafi's attacks against opposition forces and establishing a U.N.-backed no-fly zone.

The effort will also give the rebels a chance to go on the offensive against Gadhafi on the ground and supports their effort to take control of the country.

The air campaign followed the launch Saturday of 112 cruise missiles from U.S. and British ships 500 miles off the Libyan coast at more than 20 targets around Tripoli, Misratah and Surt.

"These strikes were carefully coordinated with our partners, and targets selected either as direct threat to pilots or threat to people of Libya," Vice Adm. William E. Gortney told reporters at a Pentagon briefing Saturday.

Libyan television reported that 48 people were killed and more than 150 wounded in the missile strikes, but there was no independent confirmation of the numbers.

Earlier Saturday, in the first show of force by the international coalition of 22 countries, 20 French warplanes flew over Benghazi, and one jet fired on and destroyed a Libyan armored personnel carrier, French Defense officials said.

In an audio statement broadcast on Libyan state TV, a defiant Gadhafi pledged to press forward with attacks on the rebel-held city of Benghazi and vowed to repel a "colonial crusader aggression" by international forces.

"We ask others to stand by us," he said, according to a translation of his remarks heard on Al Jazeera. "We must now open the weapons depot and arms to all Libyans."