In late June, following an apparent increase in pressure on the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the French government announced that it had performed air drops of arms to rebels fighting to oust him from power. The arms deliveries included assault rifles and ammunition, and were carried out over the Nafusa mountains, located to the south of the Libyan capital Tripoli - a city that symbolically remains in Gaddafi's hands. Initially, the French Air Force commenced deliveries of humanitarian provisions of food, water and medical supplies, although Paris took the decision to furnish civilians on the ground with arms in order to provide them with a means of self-protection, With the rebels thought to be around 80km from the Libyan capital, the arms drop may have also been an attempt by the French government to tip the military balance in their favour, and thus hasten the advance on Tripoli. Needless to say, the air drops generated controversy, with the African Union expressing misgivings that France's actions could make Libya yet more dangerous with a fresh influx of weapons.
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