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Pro-Kadhafi forces clear rebel positions
[Maghrebia] Forces loyal to Libyan leader  Moamer Qadaffy... Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years ... held control of the capital while continuing their attacks on rebel positions. In a guided tour of recaptured towns and cities, Magharebia was shown the destruction left behind by the advancing pro-Qadaffy forces. In the western city of Az Zawiyah, protestors were conspicuously absent as pro-Qadaffy forces showcased their control of Martyrs' Square. The graves of 20 anti-Qadaffy fighters buried at the square were swept away by Qadaffy's battalions as they entered the town. One foreign correspondent asked residents what happened to the graves but couldn't find anyone willing to speak about their disappearance. "This is haram, I visited the city of Az Zawiyah last week and I saw it. Where is it? I swear by God that this is haram!" the journalist said. Meanwhile in the east, the town of Ben Jawad was deserted. Located about 240km east of Sirte on the road to Benghazi, the town was the scene of intense fighting in the war between the opposition and pro-Qadaffy troops. The Jabir ben Hayan School on the coastal highway sustained heavy artillery shelling, leaving holes in the side of the building. Rebels were allegedly stationed there during their push towards Sirte. The security directorate and people's committees in the town were also heavily damaged with some building facades charred from fire. Citizens said that the rebels attacked Ben Jawad on Saturday (March 12th) at 2:00 PM and they were expelled in the early dawn hours. As many as 60 rebels were tossed in the clink. According to resident Issa Jaballah, whose home was destroyed, there was a major battle between rebels and the army. In the presence of security forces, he claimed that no residents were maimed and that artillery was used against the rebels but not aircraft. He said that most residents chose to stay home to avoid the fighting. Jaballah added that "a large group of neighbourhood residents left because the neighbourhood had no electricity or water". Signs of blood were found behind the first row of houses. Rockets of up to a half metre in size were also found in some houses. Several homes were destroyed and their contents burnt. A citizen said that he saw one fighter maimed in his neck, but he jumped over a wall to the back of a house. The road from Ben Jawad to Ras Lanuf was littered with the charred remains of cars, small buses and other vehicles, some with weapons mounted on the back. Boxes of ammunition and discarded shells covered the ground. Arriving in Ras Lanuf, Magharebia found army vehicles with "Popular Guards" emblazoned on their sides. As news hounds were led past a clinic with broken glass and shattered windows, not a resident could be found. At the medical centre, beds and blankets were strewn about haphazardly. "The rebels came to the hospital and wreaked havoc in it. The entire area is empty and not just the hospital," Haji Omar Kanbees al-Zawi said. "All doctors went to their towns all over Libya. They had worked at the beginning of events, but then bravely ran away." At the Ras Lanuf Petrochemical Complex, 20km from the residential centre of the town, thick plumes of black smoke rose high into the air. Authorities prevented news hounds from approaching for safety reasons but flames were clearly seen rising from the facility. An army colonel who was accompanying the media claimed that the rebels burnt the petrol reservoir Friday evening (March 11th), and that fire fighting trucks would come to put it out. As far as the battles were concerned, he said that most rebels "were tossed in the clink alive, while a few were killed." A group of army personnel went out to march in support of Qadaffy, carrying his photographs aloft. Meanwhile, ...back at the fistfight... the town of Ras Lanuf remained bereft of civilians. Posted by: Fred 2011-03-16 |
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