Libyan rebels advance on key town
Source: Agencies |
August 14, 2011, Sunday
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REBELS in western Libya advanced north to within 25 kilometers of the coastal city of Zawiyah yesterday after a six-hour battle with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces.
Rebel fighters pushed government troops back about 7km from their previous positions, fixing a front line about 5km north of the village of Bir Shuaib, near a diaper factory. They set up a checkpoint on the road and about 150 fighters gathered, some firing weapons in the air to celebrate their advance.
Rebels said it had been a heavy battle, with pro-Gadhafi forces using anti-tank guns. A medic said three rebel fighters were wounded in the battle but none were killed.
Government troops withdrew after six hours of fighting, the rebels said. "God willing, we will be attacking Zawiyah in one or two days," the local rebel commander Mokhtar Lakdar said.
Judging by impact craters, wrecked buildings and burnt-out tanks, NATO warplanes have bombed government military targets on the route of the rebel advance over the past week, providing close air support.
Western front
Zawiyah is the home town of many of the rebels battling on the western front. It has staged two uprisings against Gadhafi since March but remains in government hands along with its refinery and harbor on the Mediterranean coast.
Rebels hope to capture Zawiyah and cut off Gadhafi's stronghold, the capital Tripoli, from access to the outside world along the coast road.
Gadhafi's Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim on Friday said the rebels could not take Zawiyah and the western coastal highway. "In their dreams," he said.
A captured Libyan intelligence officer said the army had reinforced its garrison in the town and was ready for a fight.
On Libya's most easterly front, at least 21 rebels and government soldiers were killed in fighting for the oil terminal of Brega in the past two days, hospital staff said.
In fighting around a second eastern front in Misrata, much closer to Tripoli, at least six rebels were killed in the past 24 hours, rebel sources said.
A rebel spokesman from the Brega battle said forces opposed to Gadhafi were fighting their way south from the residential town of New Brega toward the terminal, 15km away and had knocked out two government tanks.
Gadhafi is clinging to power despite a near five-month-old NATO air campaign, the tightening of economic sanctions and a lengthening war with rebels trying to end his 41-year rule.
The rebels have seized large swathes of the North African state, but are divided and fighting on three fronts.
Zawiyah lies less than 50km west of Tripoli, on the main road to Tunisia, which has been a lifeline for Libya but has begun to crack down on rampant smuggling of gasoline.
Rebel fighters pushed government troops back about 7km from their previous positions, fixing a front line about 5km north of the village of Bir Shuaib, near a diaper factory. They set up a checkpoint on the road and about 150 fighters gathered, some firing weapons in the air to celebrate their advance.
Rebels said it had been a heavy battle, with pro-Gadhafi forces using anti-tank guns. A medic said three rebel fighters were wounded in the battle but none were killed.
Government troops withdrew after six hours of fighting, the rebels said. "God willing, we will be attacking Zawiyah in one or two days," the local rebel commander Mokhtar Lakdar said.
Judging by impact craters, wrecked buildings and burnt-out tanks, NATO warplanes have bombed government military targets on the route of the rebel advance over the past week, providing close air support.
Western front
Zawiyah is the home town of many of the rebels battling on the western front. It has staged two uprisings against Gadhafi since March but remains in government hands along with its refinery and harbor on the Mediterranean coast.
Rebels hope to capture Zawiyah and cut off Gadhafi's stronghold, the capital Tripoli, from access to the outside world along the coast road.
Gadhafi's Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim on Friday said the rebels could not take Zawiyah and the western coastal highway. "In their dreams," he said.
A captured Libyan intelligence officer said the army had reinforced its garrison in the town and was ready for a fight.
On Libya's most easterly front, at least 21 rebels and government soldiers were killed in fighting for the oil terminal of Brega in the past two days, hospital staff said.
In fighting around a second eastern front in Misrata, much closer to Tripoli, at least six rebels were killed in the past 24 hours, rebel sources said.
A rebel spokesman from the Brega battle said forces opposed to Gadhafi were fighting their way south from the residential town of New Brega toward the terminal, 15km away and had knocked out two government tanks.
Gadhafi is clinging to power despite a near five-month-old NATO air campaign, the tightening of economic sanctions and a lengthening war with rebels trying to end his 41-year rule.
The rebels have seized large swathes of the North African state, but are divided and fighting on three fronts.
Zawiyah lies less than 50km west of Tripoli, on the main road to Tunisia, which has been a lifeline for Libya but has begun to crack down on rampant smuggling of gasoline.
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