Special forces in second rescue mission to Libya

British special forces troops returned to the Libyan desert to evacuate more stranded civilians.

Travel Insurance News - 28/02/2011

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RAF Hercules transport planes accompanied by SAS and SBS troops have flown back into the Libyan desert to rescue more than 150 civilians trapped by ongoing violence there. The evacuated passengers were taken to Malta, where they stayed overnight in hotels.

It has so far not been confirmed how many Brits were among the evacuees. The rescued civilians worked in remote parts of Libya in the country’s oil industry. Passengers carrying British passports are likely to fly on to Britain on Monday.

With the mission on Sunday night, the UK has undertaken a total five rescue flights to Libya over this weekend. The missions were confirmed by Defence Secretary Liam Fox.

Speaking to the press, Dr Fox said three RAF C-130 Hercules planes had managed to rescue 150 people from several locations in Libya’s eastern desert region. As of the press conference, two of the planes had already returned to Malta and a third was expected to arrive shortly.

A number of citizens from the UK, primarily those working in remote areas, are still thought to be trapped inside Libya. The Foreign Office has been working to assess the number of civilians still to be evacuated before deciding on any further missions.

As the violence in Libya worsened last week, a number of SAS and SBS officers flew into the country. They are thought to have travelled disguised as business passengers on commercial airlines.

The men then collected weapons and equipment at the UK Embassy in Tripoli before deciding on the best plan for evacuating those trapped in Libya. Staff at the embassy had the challenging task of collecting as much information as possible on the identities and whereabouts of Brits who would need to be rescued.

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