Gaddafi launches counter-offensive on Libya rebels

A rebel fighter runs into a car with a rifle in Ras Lanuf yesterday. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

TRIPOLI, (Reuters) – Troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi  launched counter-offensives against rebel-held towns yesterday,  increasing fears that Libya is heading for a civil war rather  than the swift revolutions seen in Tunisia and Egypt.

A rebel fighter runs into a car with a rifle in Ras Lanuf yesterday. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

The Gaddafi government proclaimed sweeping overnight  victories over what it called terrorist bands.

But after what residents said was a day of fierce fighting  with artillery, rockets and mortar bombs, rebel forces announced  they had fought off Gaddafi’s forces in the towns of Zawiyah, to  the immediate west of Tripoli, and Misrata to the east.

“Today Misrata witnessed the toughest battle since the  beginning of the revolution. Horrible attacks,” one resident,  who did not want to give his name, told Reuters by phone.

“They came from three sides and managed to enter the town  from the west and south but when they reached the centre of  Misrata the rebels pushed them back,” he said.

Misrata, with a population of 300,000, is the largest town  controlled by rebels outside the rebel-held east of the country.

If rebel soldiers were able to continue their fitful advance  westwards, Misrata could be a stepping stone to reaching the  capital, Gaddafi’s principal stronghold.

Rebel council spokesman Hafiz Ghoga told a Benghazi news  conference: “We would like to put the people of this great  nation at ease…because the regime is spreading rumours.

“Both Zawiyah and Misrata are secured, liberated cities.”

Gaddafi’s troops, backed by tanks, artillery, warplanes and  helicopters attacked positions near the oil port of Ras Lanuf,  660 km (410 miles) east of the capital.

Rebels were forced to retreat from Bin Jawad which is on the  road to Sirte, the hometown of Gaddafi who has ruled the OPEC  oil and gas producer for 41 years.

“Gaddafi’s cut us to pieces. He’s firing on us with tanks  and missiles. I don’t know what we’re going to do now,” Momen  Mohammed told Reuters.

One fighter returning wounded to Ras Lanuf from Bin Jawad  was asked what he had seen.

“Death,” he replied, too distraught to say any more.

Rebels said they planned another attack on Bin Jawad, which  is only 160 km (100 miles) from Sirte, this morning.

Rebel commanders told Reuters Gaddafi’s forces were  reinforcing Sirte where they had more than 20,000 fighters. They  said the city houses the Saadi (a son of Gaddafi) battalion  which includes four brigades, as well as armed tribe members.

Loyalists had poured into the streets of Tripoli at dawn on  Sunday firing into the air and holding portraits of Gaddafi.

“These are celebrations because government forces have taken  control of all areas to Benghazi and are in the process of  taking control of Benghazi,” spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said,  referring to Libya’s second city, situated in the far east.

But the celebrations appeared to be premature as Benghazi  remained firmly under rebel control while insurgents stood their  ground at Zawiyah and Misrata.

Fight back

Rebels surrounded by troops near the centre of Zawiyah, 50  km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, faced another attack after  repelling two assaults by tanks and infantry the day before.

“This morning, there was a new attack, bigger than  yesterday. There were one and a half hours of fighting … Two  people were killed from our side and many more injured,”  spokesman Youssef Shagan said by telephone.

Elite brigades under Gaddafi’s son Khamis also launched an  assault on Misrata, 200 km (125 miles) east of the capital.

“The brigades tried to reach the centre of the town but  revolutionaries managed to repel them. They retreated to the  airbase,” said a resident who declined to be named.

“The revolutionaries captured 20 soldiers and seized a tank.  The town is now fully in the control of the youths,” he said.

At least 18 people, including a baby, were killed in the  fighting in Misrata yesterday, a doctor told Reuters by phone.

“We have 18 martyrs but the figure is not final. We also  have many people wounded, I cannot even count them,” said the  doctor, who works at Misrata main hospital, adding that the dead  included rebels and civilians.

Doctors at Ras Lanuf hospital said two dead and 22 wounded  had arrived from the fighting. A French journalist was shot in  the leg, a doctor said, and four rebels were seriously wounded  and unlikely to survive.

British troops seized

Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday  that what he called a British diplomatic team that had been  captured in the eastern city of Benghazi had now left Libya.

The Sunday Times earlier reported a British Special Air  Service (SAS) unit had been captured during a secret diplomatic  mission to make contact with opposition leaders backfired.

“They (the rebel army) did capture some British special  forces. They could not ascertain if they were friends or foes.  For our safety we are holding them and we expect this situation  to be resolved soon,” a rebel source in Benghazi said earlier.