NATO on Monday ended its military mission in Libya, seven months to the day after it had launched Operation Unified Protector to halt a brutal crackdown on regime opponents by the forces of then-leader Moamer Gaddafi, DPA reported.
The United Nations Security Council had paved the way for the mission by approving Resolution 1973 on March 17. It implemented an arms embargo, created a no-fly zone over Libya and provided for "all necessary action" to be taken to protect civilians.
Two days later, an impromptu international coalition led by France, Britain and the United States launched air raids targeting mainly the pro-Gaddafi soldiers that were advancing on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
Officials have argued that a bloodbath would have taken place in Benghazi were it not for the international community's intervention.
NATO took over command of the military activities on March 31. Twelve of the alliance's 28 members took part in Operation Unified Protector: Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Turkey and the US.
Non-NATO nations Jordan, Qatar, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates were also involved.
Canadian Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard was appointed commander of the mission, which had its operational headquarters in Naples, Italy.
The allies' military jets flew more than 26,000 sorties during the mission, including refueling and reconnaissance flights. The number of sorties involving airstrikes amounted to more than 9,600, according to NATO statistics.
At the height of the mission, the alliance had also deployed 21 warships off the Libyan coast to patrol for boats carrying weapons. More than 3,100 vessels were hailed and just under 300 boarded. Eleven were denied entry into Libyan ports, NATO said.
Operation Unified Protector was the first to see European allies have a leading role, with the US largely taking a back seat. There were, however, some high-profile absentees, with Germany most controversially declining to take part in the mission.
France and Britain took on a lion's share of the operations, flying about 5,400 and 3,000 sorties respectively.
A total price tag for Unified Protector has yet to be disclosed, but France's contribution alone is estimated at a little over 300 million euros (420 million dollars) in direct terms, Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said last week.
Britain, meanwhile, spent an estimated 160 million pounds (256 million dollars) for its military operations, with the Ministry of Defence expecting that some 140 million pounds more will be needed to replace the ammunition used.
It was two French jets - assisted by a US drone - that helped rebels capture Gaddafi on October 20, when they bombed his convoy as he attempted to flee Sirte. Gaddafi was shot dead shortly after.
Four days later, Bouchard declared that "the threat of organized attacks from Gaddafi regime remnants is essentially gone."
"At the end of the day, it is a success for NATO, but more importantly it is a Libyan victory," he said.
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