Battles raging in western Libya flashpoints: rebels

AFP/Tripoli

Libyan rebel fighters carry their commander to celebrate after believing they had pushed back forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi at the Misrata southern front line yesterday

Fighting between Muammar Gaddafi’s forces and rebels raged yesterday across Libya, with casualties reported in Zintan and the regime saying it had eliminated resistance in Zawiyah west of the capital. Battles were also being fought in the Berber mountains southwest of Tripoli, in nearby Yafran, and at Dafnia near Misrata, Libya’s third city, rebel sources said. Tribal fighters opposed to Gaddafi have also clashed with his forces in the oasis city of Sabha—a first since the outbreak of the uprising against him in mid-February. An AFP correspondent said Gaddafi’s forces pounded the outskirts of Zintan yesterday, killing at least seven rebels. Government forces posted a few kilometres east of Zintan, which remains under rebel control, fired Grad and Katyusha rockets at the town. The AFP reporter said after visiting the local hospital that at least seven Libyan rebels were killed and 49 wounded in the bombardment. Nato said it was taking “necessary action” to protect civilians. “Nato is monitoring the situation closely and is taking necessary action to protect civilians,” a statement said. “Along the north-west coast of Libya between Tripoli and the Tunisian border Libyans long tired of Gaddafi rule are challenging his legitimacy openly, and in doing so, are under threat of attack,” it said. In Tripoli, the regime spokesman said its forces had eliminated rebel “pockets of resistance” at Zawiyah west of the capital. Moussa Ibrahim told reporters that Gaddafi’s forces had “total control” of the area from Ajdabiyah in the east to the Tunisian border in the west. He denied reports that the rebels were gaining ground, while at the same time acknowledging clashes at Zawiyah but playing down their intensity. “It is pockets of resistance. The rebels there are no more than a hundred. The army has killed some of them, captured others and is negotiating the surrender of others,” Ibrahim said. He also reiterated that the regime rejected any talks about Gaddafi leaving the country. “No one has the right to demand that the leader stand down. No one can come here with a plan that includes his departure,” he said, adding such an idea is “immoral, illegal and has no sense.” Tensions were also high in the area between Zintan and Yafran, a region bitterly contested by rebels and loyalist troops, the AFP correspondent said. Hospital staff in Yafran, on condition of anonymity, said foreign doctors were prevented from leaving by pro-Gaddafi forces, who allegedly detained and beat up some employees. The fighting in Zawiyah just 40km west of Tripoli, which follows more than two months of relative calm in the city of 250,000 people, erupted on Saturday, a rebel source said in Benghazi. Gaddafi’s forces wrested control of Zawiyah from the rebels after fierce fighting there in February and March. An influx of refugees into neighbouring Tunisia at a key border crossing has dropped off after the route from Tripoli was cut off by the fighting in Zawiyah, one traveller said. Fighting also broke out in Sabha, 800km by road south of Tripoli and a bastion of support for Gaddafi, the rebel National Transitional Council said. Fighters of the Awlad Suleiman tribe, a rival to the Gaddafis, “liberated several streets” on Saturday, the NTC said in a statement. Gaddafi’s forces had opened fire, killing one man. The fighting in Sabha, with a population of some 100,000 people and home to an important military base, followed two days of anti-Gaddafi protests there, the statement said.