LIBYA: Protesters Retake A Key Strategic City And Are Now Chasing The Military Into The Desert

[Turborama]

Source: Al Jazeera English Via Business Insider

5:22 ET: Qaddafi forces are now attacking Ajdabiya, another important town near Brega, according to Al Jazeera.

5:18 ET: Earlier this morning it was reported that Pro-Qaddafi forces had captured towns in the east after airstrikes. A Brega resident tells Al Jazeera around 6 AM in Libya, 70 cars full of Qaddafi troops showed up at the airport with guns blazing, killing 15 people.

But now the protesters have recaptured the towns of Brega and others, according to Al Jazeera. The Qaddafi troops escaped to the desert, where protesters are trying to surround them and capture them, says a Brega resident.

Protesters must hold Brega and other cities or risk losing momentum. Brega is also important because it contains an airport. The Eastern capital of Benghazi is about 100 miles away.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/libya-protesters-retake-a-key-strategic-town-and-are-now-chasing-the-military-into-the-desert-2011-3

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http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/live-blog-libya-march-2">AJE Live Blog - Libya March 2

[maddezmom]

1. seems to be a very fluid situation

not sure what is going on.

¬snip¬

Arab television and rebel officers had said earlier that the Libyan military operation had been successful but a spokesman for the opposition coalition in Benghazi said Gaddafi forces had been driven away.

¬snip¬

"They tried to take Brega this morning, but they failed. It is back in the hands of the revolutionaries. He is trying to create all kinds of psychological warfare to keep these cities on edge," Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebel February 17th Coalition, told Reuters

¬snip¬

Al Jazeera television had quoted a journalist saying a blast was heard on the outskirts of Ajdabiyah and Arabiya said Gaddafi forces had made incursions into the town.

A Libyan government spokesman said he believed that reports of a counter-attack were wrong. "I very much doubt it. I believe it's one of those false reports," said spokesman Mussa Ibrahim in Tripoli.

more:http://www.cnbc.com/id/41864111

[maddezmom]

2. Gadaffi forces control Brega airport, seaport -TV

Gadaffi forces control Brega airport, seaport -TV
Wed Mar 2, 2011 11:11am GMT
Print | Single Page<-> Text <+> TRIPOLI, March 2 (Reuters) - Libyan state TV said on Wednesday that Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi's armed forces controlled the airport and seaport at Marsa El Brega, contradicting rebel accounts that an attack had been repulsed.
more:
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFWEB281020110302

[pinboy3niner]

3. AJE: 250-300 Gaddafi soldiers holed up in univ. at Brega

Reported about 10-15 minutes ago. Earlier, an eyewitness said the opposition fighters have the university surrounded.

[maddezmom]

4. heard the same thing earlier. Now al Jazeera has a reporter about 6 miles

from Brega saying he just saw a Libyan jet drop one bomb on Brega. Many people massing where he is at this time.

[pinboy3niner]

6. One bomb landed "about 60 meters away from us," he said.

"It was a very near miss," he reported. He was traveling with a group of fighters on a road in the Brega area.

He said they've been told that 6,000 Free Libya fighters are coming to support them, but he doesn't know how reliable that information is.

According to Gaddafi, they're all Al Qaeda "sleeper cells." :)

He's back on AJE again now (connection keeps getting interrupted), says he can hear what sounds like more bombing in the distance.

:hi:

[maddezmom]

7. opps, misheard that one

thanks for the update. :hi:

[pinboy3niner]

8. You didn't mishear--he got cut off when they were bombed

AJE didn't know at the time that that was the reason for the disconnection. Some of that info didn't come until a few minutes later when contact was re-established.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. As I understand it, most people are not allowed to own firearms in Libya, right?

Which makes this all the more impressive.

[Posteritatis]

11. Parts of the army and police turned, and their stockpiles with them. (nt)

[Uncle Joe]

9. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the updates, Turborama.

[Turborama]

10. Latest From The BBC: Rebels Fight Off Gaddafi Attack

March 02 2011 | Last updated at 16:31 GMT

Rebel forces have fought off an attempt by soldiers loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi to retake the eastern oil town of Brega.

Gaddafi forces had moved into eastern areas for the first time since towns there fell to protesters two weeks ago.

The BBC's John Simpson in Brega says it seems clear of loyalist troops.

=snip=

Our correspondent has been to the seashore and the university, where the heaviest fighting took place, and they appear entirely clear of Gaddafi troops.

Full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12626496