Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi today promised a long war against the international military forces that have targeted his troops with airstrikes and dozens of cruise missiles. 48 people, mostly children were killed in the attacks. Gaddafi said in his address on the Libyan state television, he will not let up on the rebellion in the country's east. He said he has opened up the weapons depots to Libyans, and said everyone is armed with automatic weapons, mortars, bombs. Moammar Gaddafi called the attack s colonial, crusader aggression. He threatened to attack military and civilian targets in the Mediterranean in retaliation for Western air and sea strikes on his country. Western forces launched air strikes on Libya after the UN Security Council passed a resolution authorising a no-fly zone and the use of all necessary measures to protect civilians. Gaddafi' said,Libya will exercise its right to self defence under article 51 of the United Nations charter, adding that the Mediterranean and North Africa were now a battleground. He also called on Arab, Islamic, African, Latin American and Asian countries to stand by the Libyan people to confront this aggression, which will only increase his people's strength, firmness and unity. The US and European nations pounded Moammar Gaddafi's forces and air defenses last night with cruise missiles and airstrikes, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war. Libyan TV quoted the armed forces command as saying 48 people were killed and 150 wounded in the allied assault. It said most of the casualties were children. The US military said, 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from American and British ships and submarines at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya's air force. French fighter jets fired the first salvos, carrying out several strikes in the rebel-held east. Thousands of Ghaddafi supporters, packed into the sprawling Bab al-Aziziya military camp in Tripoli where Gadhafi lives to protect against attacks.President Barack Obama said, he would not send American ground troops to Libya.