Gadhafi forces pound rebels
Source: Agencies |
March 17, 2011, Thursday
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MOAMMAR Gadhafi intensified offensives in the east and the west yesterday with relentless shelling aimed at routing holdout rebels and retaking control of the country he has ruled with an iron fist for more than four decades.
As Gadhafi's forces gained momentum, the rebels lashed out at the West for failing to come to their aid.
"People are fed up. They are waiting impatiently for an international move," said Saadoun al-Misrati, a rebel spokesman in the city of Misrata, the last rebel-held city in the west, which came under heavy shelling yesterday.
"What Gadhafi is doing, he is exploiting delays by international community. People are very angry that no action is being taken against Gadhafi's weaponry."
The breakdown of rebel defenses in Ajdabiya, 800 kilometers southeast of Tripoli, threatened to open the gateway to the long stretch of eastern Libya that has been in the control of the opposition throughout the monthlong uprising. Its fall would allow regime forces to bombard Benghazi, Libya's second largest city and the de facto capital of the opposition, by air, sea and land.
Gadhafi's forces continued shelling Ajdabiya, a city of 140,000 people, overnight and throughout the morning with artillery fire and little resistance from the rebels.
An activist hiding out in the city said the rebels were lightly armed but still managed to ambush a group of regime troops marching into the city on foot late on Tuesday, but the victory was short lived. Artillery shelling was ongoing, he said.
"The rebels set a trap and managed to take over four tanks, but now I see none of them," Abdel-Bari Zwei said when reached by telephone. "Ajdabiya is witnessing unprecedented destruction. This is the end of the city."
Residents in Ajdabiya fled either to tents set up outside the city or 200 kilometers northeast to Benghazi.
"The shelling hasn't stopped since last night. The residential areas are under attack," Zwei said, adding that the hospital had been overwhelmed and many of the injured had to be taken to Benghazi.
The city was besieged from the west, where Gadhafi's brigades were deployed from his stronghold of Sirte, and from the north with a warship in the Mediterranean Sea.
Ajdabiya has been a key supply point for the rebellion, with ammunition and weapons depots.
As Gadhafi's forces gained momentum, the rebels lashed out at the West for failing to come to their aid.
"People are fed up. They are waiting impatiently for an international move," said Saadoun al-Misrati, a rebel spokesman in the city of Misrata, the last rebel-held city in the west, which came under heavy shelling yesterday.
"What Gadhafi is doing, he is exploiting delays by international community. People are very angry that no action is being taken against Gadhafi's weaponry."
The breakdown of rebel defenses in Ajdabiya, 800 kilometers southeast of Tripoli, threatened to open the gateway to the long stretch of eastern Libya that has been in the control of the opposition throughout the monthlong uprising. Its fall would allow regime forces to bombard Benghazi, Libya's second largest city and the de facto capital of the opposition, by air, sea and land.
Gadhafi's forces continued shelling Ajdabiya, a city of 140,000 people, overnight and throughout the morning with artillery fire and little resistance from the rebels.
An activist hiding out in the city said the rebels were lightly armed but still managed to ambush a group of regime troops marching into the city on foot late on Tuesday, but the victory was short lived. Artillery shelling was ongoing, he said.
"The rebels set a trap and managed to take over four tanks, but now I see none of them," Abdel-Bari Zwei said when reached by telephone. "Ajdabiya is witnessing unprecedented destruction. This is the end of the city."
Residents in Ajdabiya fled either to tents set up outside the city or 200 kilometers northeast to Benghazi.
"The shelling hasn't stopped since last night. The residential areas are under attack," Zwei said, adding that the hospital had been overwhelmed and many of the injured had to be taken to Benghazi.
The city was besieged from the west, where Gadhafi's brigades were deployed from his stronghold of Sirte, and from the north with a warship in the Mediterranean Sea.
Ajdabiya has been a key supply point for the rebellion, with ammunition and weapons depots.
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