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Africa North
Libya Tanks Move In To Crush Rebel Stronghold
2011-03-09
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces are reportedly using tanks and warplanes to attack the rebel-held town of Zawiyah in western Libya.
Nice pic of a technical at the link.
One eyewitness, who wished to remain anonymous, compared the town to "a city of ghosts" because of the violence and bloodshed.He told Sky News: "Here, it is chaos. Buildings completely crumbled, mosques brought down to ashes, blood flowing through the streets.

"No human should go through this... what kind of human would do this to another human?"

He added: "This is a completely full attack. Approximately 50 tanks have been bombarding the city, crushing everything in sight. It started at 10am today and still hasn't finished. There are now a couple of aircraft hovering."

He said Gaddafi's forces were targeting the town's main square where protesters have gathered. "There are a lot of people there who want freedom, but it seems the price they have to pay is with their own blood," he said.

According to other eyewitness reports, the rebels are still in control of the centre of Zawiyah.

"Fighting is still going on now. Gaddafi's forces are using tanks. There are also sporadic air strikes," a resident, called Ibrahim, told Reuters news agency. "But they could not reach the centre of the town which is still in the control of the revolutionaries."

Rebel forces say they have rejected an offer of negotiations by a representative of Col Gaddafi's regime "seeking to negotiate Gaddafi's exit".
The Guardian has more.
Posted by:Steve White

#10  where is the international outcry about the mosque being blown too shit? Oh wait it's not us doing it
Posted by: chris   2011-03-09 20:59  

#9  Updates:
Rebels in Zawiya retake town square. (Very embarassing to Gaddafi. He was driving a busload of Western reporters to Zawiya to report from the square when they turned around and went back.)

Detailed map of Sirte/Ras Lanuf front.

Strategic map of Eastern/central front.

Strategic map of Western front

Posted by: Frozen Al   2011-03-09 16:12  

#8  Gol Durn it P2K. I forgot about that one.
Posted by: AlanC   2011-03-09 15:16  

#7  Aren't these the same folks who celebrated the triumphant return of the Pan Am 103 bomber?

Posted by: regular joe   2011-03-09 13:45  

#6  Why only begin at 1950?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2011-03-09 12:01  

#5  lord garth, you forgot the Chinese 1950 - current.
Posted by: AlanC   2011-03-09 09:12  

#4  "...what kind of human would do this to another.." human?"

in the 1940s: Nazis
in the 1920-1970s: Communists
from 650 to 2011: Moslems
Posted by: lord garth   2011-03-09 08:24  

#3  And NATO is watching. And watching.

Finally G*d sent some brains to the Leaders of the West?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2011-03-09 01:49  

#2  And Obean is still evaluating the full range of options.

And NATO is watching. And watching.
Posted by: gorb   2011-03-09 01:41  

#1  "When Christians kill muslims it's a crusade. When Jews kill muslims it's murder. But when muslims kill muslims it's a weather report" - Dan Gillerman, former Israeli UN representative...
Posted by: vendaval   2011-03-09 00:16  

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