Libyan city sees heavy fighting
Source: Agencies |
April 11, 2011, Monday
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HEAVY fighting raged for a second day around a key front-line Libyan city yesterday as rebels struggled to keep control of a buffer zone protecting their main eastern strongholds.
Shelling and gunfire was heard across Ajdabiya after forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi launched their most sustained offensive since being driven back by international airstrikes last month. A hospital chief said at least 13 people have been killed since fighting erupted on Saturday and a Libyan official claimed government forces downed two United States-built helicopters used by rebels.
Rebels are desperate to hang onto the city to give breathing room to their main political base in Benghazi, about 160 kilometers farther up the coastal highway.
If it falls to the government, the way is open for a siege of Benghazi - the same scenario that galvanized the international air campaign to stop Gadhafi's advance in March.
At least 11 people died in Saturday's fighting, said Ajdabiya hospital supervisor Mohammed Idris, with two more rebels killed yesterday.
Residents of the embattled city of Misrata, the lone rebel outpost in the west of the country, said shelling continued yesterday, killing one and wounding two others seriously.
Shelling and gunfire was heard across Ajdabiya after forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi launched their most sustained offensive since being driven back by international airstrikes last month. A hospital chief said at least 13 people have been killed since fighting erupted on Saturday and a Libyan official claimed government forces downed two United States-built helicopters used by rebels.
Rebels are desperate to hang onto the city to give breathing room to their main political base in Benghazi, about 160 kilometers farther up the coastal highway.
If it falls to the government, the way is open for a siege of Benghazi - the same scenario that galvanized the international air campaign to stop Gadhafi's advance in March.
At least 11 people died in Saturday's fighting, said Ajdabiya hospital supervisor Mohammed Idris, with two more rebels killed yesterday.
Residents of the embattled city of Misrata, the lone rebel outpost in the west of the country, said shelling continued yesterday, killing one and wounding two others seriously.
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