Libya rebels say shoot down Gaddafi's warplanes

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - A rebel spokesman said Thursday Libyan rebel forces had shot down two government warplanes raiding Benghazi in the east of the country.

There was no immediate comment from official sources.

A witness said residents in the city celebrated the shooting down of the two planes which they saw as victories by the rebels over Muammar Gaddafi's forces. But the witness was unable to reach the locations where the planes reportedly came down.

"Two Gaddafi fighter planes were shot down by the rebels, one in the morning that tried to raid Benina airport and another in the Buatani area on the outskirts of Benghazi. There were no casualties," Essam Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebel movement in Benghazi said.

"One Gaddafi fighter plane raided the Benina airport but with very little damage, and we have repelled these attacks and I think the fighter plane was shot down in Benina," rebel commander Adel al-Borosi was quoted as saying on Al Jazeera TV.

He did not refer to a second warplane being shot down.

The witness in Benghazi said there was heavy traffic on the roads and residents chanted "God is greatest" in celebration.

Gaddafi's forces launched air strikes Thursday around Benghazi, including on Benina airport on the city's eastern edge and on Buatani, where one resident said there is a military camp. Rebels said the raids had not caused damage or casualties.

(Reporting by a Reuters reporter in Benghazi and Marwa Awad in Cairo; Writing by Edmund Blair; editing by Philippa Fletcher)