Rebels advance on Tripoli as fighting rages
Source: Agencies |
March 7, 2011, Monday
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LIBYAN helicopter gunships fired on a rebel force advancing west toward the capital Tripoli along the country's Mediterranean coastline yesterday and forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi fought intense ground battles with the rival fighters.
The opposition force pushed out of the rebel-held eastern half of Libya late last week for the first time and have been cutting a path west toward Tripoli. On the way, they secured control of two important oil ports at Brega and Ras Lanouf and were advancing farther west when they were hit by the helicopter fire and confrontations with ground forces.
Fierce ground battles were raging around the front line between two towns about 50 kilometers apart, Ras Lanouf and Bin Jawad to the west. Gadhafi loyalists retook Bin Jawad, about 160 kilometers east of Gadhafi's hometown and stronghold of Sirte, which could prove to be a decisive battleground.
A warplane also attacked a small military base at Ras Lanouf and destroyed three hangars. Gadhafi forces shelled rebel positions at Ras Lanouf with rockets and artillery. Ambulances sped toward the town and rebels moved trucks carrying rocket launchers toward the front lines.
In Tripoli, the city of 2 million that is most firmly in Gadhafi's grip, residents awoke before dawn to the crackle of unusually heavy and sustained gunfire that lasted for at least two hours. Some of the gunfire was heard around the sprawling Bab al-Aziziya military camp where Gadhafi lives, giving rise to speculation that there may have been some sort of internal fighting within the forces defending the Libyan leader inside his fortress-like barracks. Gadhafi's whereabouts were unknown.
In rebel-held Misrata, residents said pro-Gadhafi forces attacked the city 200 kilometers east of Tripoli late morning yesterday, shelling the downtown area with mortars and tank artillery.
The Libyan uprising that began on February 15 has been sliding toward a civil war that could be prolonged, with rebels backed by mutinous army units and arms seized from storehouses going on the offensive to try to topple Gadhafi's 41-year-old governance.
The US has moved military forces closer to Libya's shores to put military muscle behind its demand for Gadhafi to step down immediately. But Washington has expressed wariness about talk of imposing a "no fly" zone over the country.
The opposition force pushed out of the rebel-held eastern half of Libya late last week for the first time and have been cutting a path west toward Tripoli. On the way, they secured control of two important oil ports at Brega and Ras Lanouf and were advancing farther west when they were hit by the helicopter fire and confrontations with ground forces.
Fierce ground battles were raging around the front line between two towns about 50 kilometers apart, Ras Lanouf and Bin Jawad to the west. Gadhafi loyalists retook Bin Jawad, about 160 kilometers east of Gadhafi's hometown and stronghold of Sirte, which could prove to be a decisive battleground.
A warplane also attacked a small military base at Ras Lanouf and destroyed three hangars. Gadhafi forces shelled rebel positions at Ras Lanouf with rockets and artillery. Ambulances sped toward the town and rebels moved trucks carrying rocket launchers toward the front lines.
In Tripoli, the city of 2 million that is most firmly in Gadhafi's grip, residents awoke before dawn to the crackle of unusually heavy and sustained gunfire that lasted for at least two hours. Some of the gunfire was heard around the sprawling Bab al-Aziziya military camp where Gadhafi lives, giving rise to speculation that there may have been some sort of internal fighting within the forces defending the Libyan leader inside his fortress-like barracks. Gadhafi's whereabouts were unknown.
In rebel-held Misrata, residents said pro-Gadhafi forces attacked the city 200 kilometers east of Tripoli late morning yesterday, shelling the downtown area with mortars and tank artillery.
The Libyan uprising that began on February 15 has been sliding toward a civil war that could be prolonged, with rebels backed by mutinous army units and arms seized from storehouses going on the offensive to try to topple Gadhafi's 41-year-old governance.
The US has moved military forces closer to Libya's shores to put military muscle behind its demand for Gadhafi to step down immediately. But Washington has expressed wariness about talk of imposing a "no fly" zone over the country.
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