RAF to the rescue

[Clayton Bigsby]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-middle-east-12588947?SThisFB

RAF Hercules planes rescue 150 from Libya desert

26 February 11 15:52 ET

Two RAF Hercules have rescued about 150 workers from the Libyan desert, as protests against Col Gaddafi continue.

The planes, carrying Britons and other foreign nationals, have reached Malta.

Meanwhile, the last government-chartered flight on which Britons could escape has left Tripoli and the British embassy there has suspended operations.

However, it is thought that some 300 British citizens remain in desert camps in Libya and a Royal Navy frigate is heading to the port town of Benghazi.

'Military assets'

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the "extremely complex" operation to rescue civilians from the desert had taken days to plan.

"It was not just oil workers in one camp - they had to deal with several different locations and a number of heavily armed people," he said, adding that the operation appeared to have been carried out without co-operation from the Gaddafi regime.

Peter Dingle from Lancashire was among those airlifted out in the military operation.

"We found out early this morning that the Hercules was coming in but everything was being kept quiet," he told BBC Radio 5 live.

"We couldn't send e-mails out to any people or anything like that because obviously the media would find out that the British military was coming."

Defence Secretary Liam Fox said: "I can confirm that two RAF C130 Hercules aircraft have evacuated around 150 civilians from desert locations south of Benghazi.

"HMS Cumberland is on her way back to Benghazi to evacuate any remaining entitled persons from there.

"HMS York has arrived in Valletta to take on board stores so it can assist the evacuation effort if required. And a number of other military assets remain available to support the FCO led efforts to return civilians from Libya."

A statement from the Foreign Office said the planes had been met by a team of consular officials and Red Cross staff in Valletta, where they would be helped before returning to Britain on a government-chartered plane on Sunday or Monday.

[StoleIt]

Bloody decent of them.

[PapaJu]

Even Turkey did the same. I hope they get them all out soon, I could see Libya effectively taking hostages now that the UNSC just put sanctions on them.

[pawnman]

Did someone say UNSC?

[Guest]

What lacking of balls are you referring to?

[Clayton Bigsby]

What lacking of balls are you referring to?

Well, the Brits evacuated their citizens with a frigate and some Herks landing in the desert to get everybody out.

We closed our embassy, had to charter a civilian catamaran for some of our people (that couldn't even leave the port for several days due to the sea state), and have been taking no for an answer for flights in/out.

[Spoo]

Well, the Brits evacuated their citizens with a frigate and some Herks landing in the desert to get everybody out.

We closed our embassy, had to charter a civilian catamaran for some of our people (that couldn't even leave the port for several days due to the sea state), and have been taking no for an answer for flights in/out.

[Majestik Møøse]

This State Department press conference on 25 Feb says the evacuation 250-270 people by ferry and 41 people by aircraft was complete. According to the article above, on the 26th the British still had 300 people left in the desert near Benghazi waiting on a frigate to pick them up. The Libyan government had lost control of Benghazi somewhere around the 25th plus or minus a few days.

According to the BBC, the British evacuation is complete as of 28 Feb. Not sure if the Canadians have gotten their guys out yet.

It looks like the Brits somehow managed to move everybody from Tripoli to rebel-held Benghazi on the ground so they could be evacuated by the military. The US went a different route and chartered a ship and aircraft to remove people straight out of Tripoli. I'm sure the British and American operations were massively difficult to put together and I don't really fault either. I'm sure there were minor screwups and delays as always, but as far as I'm aware the only foreigners killed have been African mercs. Sounds like successful to me.

[MKopack]

Libya unrest: UK rescue plane had a 'narrow escape'

Pictures from on-board the RAF Hercules on a recovery mission inside Libya. Courtesy MoD.

Disaster was narrowly averted when small arms fire entered the cockpit of a RAF C130 Hercules evacuating Britons and foreign nationals from Libya, it has emerged.

One round bounced off the pilot's helmet but he was unscathed during Sunday's rescue of oil workers.

The BBC's Frank Gardner confirmed details of the narrow escape during the evacuation of oil workers - 20 of whom were British - from the desert.

He said an insurgent group on the ground which fired at the aircraft had mistaken it for a Gaddafi regime plane. They have since apologised for the incident.

'Bang Bang'

Some of those rescued described the moment the Hercules was shot at, forcing it to abandon a landing.

One British oil worker said: "The aircraft took two hits on the right hand side of the fuselage, you just heard 'bang bang' as the rounds actually struck."

Another said after failing to land at two blocked off fields, the Hercules was trying again at a third when the firing started, forcing them to abort.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that one of its C130 aircraft appeared to have suffered "minor damage consistent with small arms fire", adding that "there were no injuries to passengers or crew and the aircraft returned safely to Malta".

On Saturday, another 150 oil workers, many of them British nationals, were rescued from the desert by two RAF Hercules and flown to the safety of Malta.

They later caught flights back to the UK, which arrived at Gatwick airport on Sunday and early on Monday.

[Champ Kind]

Gotta love the battle-wagon that is the mighty C-130 Hercules!

[GovernmentMan]

Gotta love the battle-wagon that is the mighty C-130 Hercules!