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| Africa North |
| Rebels face stiff resistance on road to Tripoli |
| 2011-07-12 |
| ZINTAN: Rebels fighting to encircle Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli faced stiff resistance on Monday, coming under rocket attack south of the capital as France said it had made indirect contact with Libya’s regime. The clashes occurred around Gualish, which the rebels overran four days ago as they launched a NATO-backed offensive aimed at pushing the front line closer to the capital. “There is a battle in the mountain of Zarat, near Kikla, about 15 kilometres north of Gualish,” said Wael Brashen who commands a small rebel unit in the area. “Since morning, Gaddafi’s forces have been striking intermittently with grad rockets and 106-calibre anti-tank canons,” he said, adding the rebels launched a counterattack after three hours. Brashen said the shelling also targetted a road linking Kikla to Al-Assabaa, the last major city on the road to Tripoli. “We are preparing for Al-Assabaa, we do not know when, but there will be a battle” very soon, said Colonel Juma Brahim who commands the rebel’s operational headquarters in Zintan. Rebels broke a weeks-long stalemate in the Nafusa mountain range last week, marching to the plains of Gualish. Elsewhere, the rebels said Gaddafi loyalists killed four of their fighters and wounded 22 overnight in the town of Zliten, some 60 kilometres from Misrata, Libya’s third city and the insurgency’s main western stronghold. |
| Posted by:Steve White |