WASHINGTON - Libyan leader MuammarGaddafi's forces fired a Scud missile for the first time sincethe uprising against his rule began six months ago, but itlanded in the desert and injured no one, a US defenseofficial said on Monday.
The missile was fired on Sunday morning from a locationabout 50 miles east of Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's hometown, and landed east of the coastal oil town of Brega, theofficial said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
It was unclear what Gaddafi might have been targeting, theofficial said, without speculating about the motives behind amissile launch that came in the wake of recent rebel gains thathave increased pressure on the Libyan leader.Gaddafi's aging stockpile of Soviet-era Scud missiles,which have an estimated range of about 185 miles, wereamong the earliest targets of the NATO air campaign that beganin March.