The deputy commander of NATO's operations in Libya has said he is "not apologising" for two air strikes which "may have led to the deaths" of a "a number of" opposition fighters outside the town of Brega.
Rear Admiral Russell Harding said in a press briefing on Tuesday that the situation on the ground had been "very fluid" when the strikes were launched a day earlier.He said tanks had been moving in different directions and that it was difficult to distinguish who was operating them.
"Until this time, we had not seen the TNC [Transitional National Council] operate tanks," he said.
General Abdelfatah Yunis, the rebel commander, said in Benghazi that four people - two fighters and two medics - were killed in the attack, 14 wounded and another six people were missing.
He said it was friendly fire, "carried out in error by NATO," adding that the freedon figters had now informed NATO that they were moving T55 and T72 heavy tanks from Benghazi to Brega.
He said that they still have 400 tanks and will get more in future.
Groups of fighters and civilians fled from the eastern town of Ajdabiya on Thursday after the air strikes.
Libyan state television claimed that forces loyal to longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi had entered Ajdabiya, but residents said they could see no sign of them.
NATO took command of the air operation last week after American, British and French air strikes halted Gaddafi's troops from advancing on Benghazi.
Freedom Figters say they need to buy more high-powered weaponry from abroad and would welcome foreign trainers to help them teach fighters how to use them, but so far no countries have acknowledged that they will sell weapons to the Freedom Figters.
On Thursday, however, General Younes said publicly for the first time that Qatar had provided the Freedom Figters with anti-tank weapons. Qatar was the second country to recognise the opposition Transitional National Council as Libya's legitimate government and has said it will market oil provided by freedom figters.
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