Reply #55: Rebels Gain Ground in Misrata--WSJ

[pinboy3niner]

Source: Wall Street Journal

APRIL 17, 2011, 10:16 A.M. ET


Rebels Gain Ground in Misrata


By SAM DAGHER



TRIPOLI—Rebels gained new ground in Misrata over the weekend while a military spokesman for the regime denied the use of heavy weapons or cluster munitions there, even as forces loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi pounded the embattled city with fresh salvos of rockets and shelled the rebel-held city of Ajdabiya in eastern Libya.


On Sunday government officials in Tripoli canceled a trip for reporters to Misrata, about 125 miles east of the capital, as the sound of intermittent explosions was heard in the city, according to a resident with the rebels reached via an Internet phone connection.


Since early March pro-Gadhafi troops have been trying to fight their way into Misrata's rebel-controlled center, achieving little while inflicting immense suffering on residents who have chosen to remain inside. But on Saturday rebels reclaimed a new patch of land southwest of the city known as Al-Ghayran beyond Tripoli Street, the main frontline in the battle between the two sides, according to a doctor with the rebels.


In the fight for Al-Ghayran rebels were able to destroy three tanks, said Ayman Abu-Shahma. He said government troops retaliated by firing Grad rockets against several targets around the city including a dairy-products plant, a clinic and a road reserved for container trucks leading to the port. The waterfront is the rebels' only outlet to the outside world. Dr. Abu-Shahma said at least six people were killed, including rebel fighters and a nurse at the clinic in an area known as Zawiyat al-Mahjoub, also southwest of the city.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704613504576268584239025872.html