Some signs of normalcy sprouted Wednesday in the besieged western Libyan town of Misrata after a night of coalition airstrikes that witnesses said targeted encampments of forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. "It is relatively quiet today -- this is the first time we feel that way in weeks," said Mohammed, an opposition spokesman in the city who would only give his first name. "We want to express our gratitude to the international community since there were airstrikes this morning." He and a Misrata Central Hospital doctor said the situation was dramatically improved Wednesday, after overnight and early morning airstrikes that they said targeted at least two pro-Gadhafi positions. Gadhafi's forces have been stationed on the outskirts of the city, from where they have been providing support and supplies to loyalists fighting rebels in Misrata proper. Many grocery stores and other shops opened in the city, two hours east of Tripoli, for the first time in a week. The doctor, Khaled Mansouri, told CNN that five more people were killed in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to at least 95 in the last seven days. A man who died Wednesday morning was shot by a pro-Gadhafi sniper, the doctor said. Gen. Abdul Fatah Younis, a former interior minister who quit to lead opposition forces, said they have requested weapons from several nations to help the embattled city. "Misrata is destroyed and they need weapons," Younis told CNN. "We try to send them weapons, but of course they were all light weapons. There were no heavy weapons." The international airstrikes against Libyan military positions began over the weekend after Gadhafi defied a United Nations-mandated cease-fire in attacks against civilians. The strikes are intended to help establish a no-fly zone. The campaign was in its fifth day as Sweden announced it has frozen more $1.53 billion in Libyan assets in response to EU sanctions imposed on the northern African country. U.S. officials said the coalition also conducted airstrikes Tuesday night in Tripoli, but said they did not "specifically target anything" in the capital. In the last 24 hours, the United States has conducted 28 airstrikes and the coalition has conducted 26 more, said a U.S. military official, who could not be identified because of the sensitivity of the information. The coalition has not fired any cruise missiles against targets in Libya in the last 24 hours because the Libyan air defense system is so degraded that manned aircraft can now take over most missions, the official told CNN. "We now have air dominance so we don't have to use cruise missiles," the official said. The airstrikes, using precision-guided munitions, were launched against surface-to-air missile sites, command and control sites and Libyan troops and weapons stationed outside the cities of Misrata in the west and Ajdabiya in the east. An ammunition depot was also hit, said the official. France launched the air campaign in Libya and Britain and the United States followed. Germany is not participating in the military action, though it agrees with the United Nations resolution in principle, and moved Wednesday to ensure that its ships were far removed from the Libyan campaign. A German navy spokesman said Wednesday that all German ships previously under NATO command in the Mediterranean Sea were reassigned to operate under national command and are returning to previously scheduled port stops in Europe to await further instructions. German crew members of NATO fighter jets were also now under German command. But on the ground, Gadhafi remained defiant and his forces continued their assault on towns with a rebel presence, including Misrata. "We will not give up," the embattled leader said Tuesday on state media as supporters waved green flags. "They will not terrorize us. We are making fun of their rockets. The Libyans are laughing at these rockets. We will defeat them by any method." Late Monday, coalition forces suffered a minor setback when a U.S. fighter jet malfunctioned and crashed near Benghazi in eastern Libya. The two crew members parachuted out and landed in different places. U.S. rescue teams picking up the pilot dropped two 500-pound laser-guided bombs after they saw an armored vehicle approaching the pilot and feared for his safety, said Capt. Richard Ulsh, spokesman for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. An investigation of the incident is underway after reports surfaced that some Libyans were injured by shrapnel. Capt. Becky Massey, the pilot of one of the two Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft involved in the rescue, said the bombs were dropped three miles from the location of the downed pilot. One of the Ospreys then landed and picked up the pilot. A U.S. aircraft later dropped precision-guided munitions on the F-15E wreckage to fully destroy it, a U.S. military official told CNN. Rebels had already recovered the second crew member and treated him with "respect and dignity" until coalition forces reached him, U.S. Navy Adm. Samuel Locklear III said Tuesday. The Libyan war was sparked in February by protests demanding an end to Gadhafi's almost 42-year rule. The Libyan strongman responded with force, prompting the international community to take action. Locklear told reporters Tuesday that Gadhafi was still ordering armed action and would remain in violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution until he stopped those attacks. The international operation has targeted air defense sites and command centers, but coalition leaders have said no plans exist to kill Gadhafi. However, a Johns Hopkins University professor said the coalition can only achieve so much through aerial strikes. "We have to understand the limits of what air power can do," Fouad Ajami told CNN's "AC360." "This is a recipe for a stalemate," he said. "(Gadhafi) stays in his bunker. The people in Benghazi stay behind the line. Otherwise, this will go on for quite a long time." Criticism and questions persist about the international campaign, with no clear answer on who will take over command of the mission and what the endgame or exit strategy will be. U.S. President Barack Obama said the timetable for a transition of military leadership will be coming in days, not weeks. NATO said Wednesday it will decide shortly what its role in the operation will be. A spokesman added the alliance is well prepared. "This is the bread and butter of NATO," an official said. Ajami said that unlike what some have suggested, the Arab world welcomes NATO involvement. "They know that the calamity is unfolding in Libya, and they know that no help is going to come other than from the West and from the United States." British Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday that Kuwait and Jordan have agreed to provide logistical support to the Libyan effort. Qatar has already contributed planes to mission. The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it will participate -- but only in providing humanitarian assistance. Toward that end, the country has sent a ship and two planes with basic relief supplies, the country's news agency said. Source: CNN