The United Nations Security Council has voted today for the United States military and its allies to use force against Libyan leader Muammar's Qaddafi's air troops to help protect the civilians threatened by the raging conflict.

The UN's principal policy-making panel voted 10 to 0, with five abstentions, to adopt a resolution that establishes a no- fly zone over Libya, demands a ceasefire and allows "all necessary measures" to protect civilians "excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory."

Those who abstained include Brazil, China, Germany, India, and Russia.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told the Security Council before the vote: "We have very little time left. Every day, every hour, we see the closing of the clamp on the civilians and the population of Benghazi. We should not arrive too late."

Earlier in the day, Libyan jets dropped bombs on the outskirts of Benghazi to pacify the remaining rebel forces still resisting Mr. Qaddafi's rule. It is second-largest city, with a population of about one million.

Libyan citizens have been trying to have a more democratic way of life and started to fight off the authoritarian rule of Colonel Qaddafi, who has been in power for the last 30 years. Nevertheless, unlike his Egyptian counterpart Mr Hosni Mubarak, Mr. Qaddafi has insisted to use force to quell the protests and declined to step down.