Photos of coalition launching military action against Libya
French jets and British and American ships and submarines began strikes on Libya on Saturday in an effort aimed at enforcing a UN-mandated no-fly zone
A French Mirage 2000-5 aircraft, seen in this photo released by ECPAD (French Defence communication and audiovisual production agency), takes off from the Dijon military base on a mission to overfly Libya March 19, 2011. Western air forces, with Arab League approval, went into action in Libya on Saturday to curb attcks by Muammar Gaddafi's forces on the revel stronghold of Benghazi, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.HO/Reuters
Youths, standing on a wall of the house of Libya's leader Muammar Gadhafi, form a human shield in Tripoli March 19, 2011. Thousands of Libyans packed into Muammar Gadhafi's heavily fortified Tripoli compound on Saturday to form a human shield against possible air strikes by allied forces. Fireworks erupted into the night sky and people fired defiant shots into the air at the compound after allied warplanes went into action in eastern Libya to stop the Libyan leader's forces attacking the rebel-held city of Benghazi.AHMED JADALLAH
Libyan army soldiers loyal to Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi guard the protest at Bab Al-Azizya in Tripoli March 19, 2011. Thousands of Libyans packed into Gaddafi's heavily fortified Tripoli compound on Saturday to form a human shield against possible air strikes by allied forces.ZOHRA BENSEMRA
This Saturday, March 19, 2011 photo provided by the U.S. Navy shows the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) as it launches a Tomahawk missile in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn from the Mediterranean Sea . The U.S. fired more than 100 cruise missiles from the sea while French fighter jets targeted Moammar Gadhafi's forces from the air on Saturday, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war in support of an uprising that had seemed on the verge of defeat.Fireman Roderick Eubanks
U.S. President Barack Obama announces limited U.S. military operations against Libya, in Brasilia, March 19, 2011.JASON REED
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stout (DDG 55) launches a Tomahawk missile in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn in the Mediterranean Sea on March 19, 2011 in this handout photo released to Reuters on Saturday. This was one of approximately 110 cruise missiles fired from U.S. and British ships and submarines that targeted about 20 radar and anti-aircraft sites along Libya's Mediterranean coast. Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn is the U.S. Africa Command task force established to provide operational and tactical command and control of U.S. military forces supporting the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973.HO/Reuters
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stout (DDG 55) launches a Tomahawk missile in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn in the Mediterranean Sea on March 19, 2011 in this handout photo released to Reuters on Saturday. This was one of approximately 110 cruise missiles fired from U.S. and British ships and submarines that targeted about 20 radar and anti-aircraft sites along Libya's Mediterranean coast. Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn is the U.S. Africa Command task force established to provide operational and tactical command and control of U.S. military forces supporting the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973.HO/Reuters
This Saturday, March 19, 2011 photo provided by the U.S. Navy shows the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stout (DDG 55) as it launches a Tomahawk missile in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn from the Mediterranean Sea . The U.S. fired more than 100 cruise missiles from the sea while French fighter jets targeted Moammar Gadhafi's forces from the air on Saturday, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war in support of an uprising that had seemed on the verge of defeat.Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeramy S
In this handout image provided by the U.S. Navy, seen through night-vision lenses aboard amphibious transport dock the USS Ponce, the USS Barry fires Tomahawk cruise missiles in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn March 19, 2011 in the Mediterranean Sea. This was one of approximately 110 cruise missiles fired from U.S. and British ships and submarines targeting about 20 radar and anti-aircraft sites along Libya's Mediterranean coast.U.S. Navy
A French Dassault Rafale combat aircraft, seen in this photo released by ECPAD (French Defence communication and audiovisual production agency), returns to its hangar at the Saint-Dizier military base, eastern France, after a mission to overfly Libya March 19, 2011. Western forces hit targets along the Libyan coast on Saturday, using strikes from air and sea to force Muammar Gaddafi's troops to cease fire and end attacks on civilians.HO/The Canadian Press
People stand near bodies that are under a blanket, of Moammar Gadhafi loyalist soldiers killed in what residents said was a French airstrike early on Sunday morning on the southern outskirts of Benghazi in northeastern Libya, March 20, 2011.FINBARR O'REILLY