NATO's bombing campaign in Libya, now in its seventh month, will continue despite the collapse of Muammar Gaddafi's regime, alliance officials said Thursday. French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said the airstrikes will not cease until all remaining pockets of resistance are suppressed and the new government asks for them to end. Although the former rebels now control most of Libya, some regions remain under control of pro-Gadhafi forces. These include Sirte on the Mediterranean coast, the city of Bani Walid and parts of the south. “Sirte has an extremely symbolic value, but it's not all of Libya,” Longuet said as he arrived for the second and final day of a conference of defense ministers of NATO nations. NATO has carried out more than 9,300 airstrikes against Gaddafi's forces since the campaign started in March. The military alliance has been criticized for allegedly overstepping UN Security Council resolution that created a no-fly zone and authorized the protection of civilians caught up in the fighting. Discussions at the ministers' meeting have focused on Libya and Afghanistan, where NATO is in the process of extricating itself from a 10-year war against Taliban insurgents. “This is an important moment for Afghanistan,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday. “Transition is on track and it will not be derailed.” Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross has crossed the frontline into Gaddafi's hometown to deliver baby milk, diapers and other humanitarian aid.ICRC spokeswoman Dibeh Fakhr says two trucks entered Sirte Thursday and handed over the goods to representatives of families remaining in the city. It's the international Red Cross' third successful delivery in Sirte. Fakhr says the Sirte hospital is facing a grave shortage of oxygen tanks but humanitarian workers haven't been able to tour the hospital because the situation is too dangerous.
