Libya: Gaddafi Warplanes Fire On Rebels

[maddezmom]

Source: Sky News

Share Comments (12)Nicola Boden, Sky News Online

Libyan warplanes have launched airstrikes on rebels advancing towards Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's stronghold of Sirte.

The insurgents were targeted as they moved to the leader's hometown, which looks set to be the scene of bloody clashes.

Colonel Lamine Abdelwahabin of Benghazi's rebel military committee said: "We have moved on to the offensive and we are near Sirte now."

Fellow rebel commander Bashir Abudl Gadir said his forces had taken the town of al-Nawfaliyah, putting them a step closer to the Gaddafi stronghold.



Read more: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Libya-Gaddafi-Warplanes-Target-Rebels-Moving-On-Sirte-Stronghold/Article/201103115946506?lpos=World_News_First_World_News_Article_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15946506_Libya%3A_Gaddafi_Warplanes_Target_Rebel

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Air strike on rebel-held Libyan oil town
Gaddafi loyal air forces launch air strikes in the town of Ras Lanuf. State TV makes bogus announcement that Gaddafi retook the town

A warplane struck Ras Lanuf on Sunday, just minutes after rebels holding the Libyan oil town scoffed at state-owned television claims of its recapture by regime loyalists.

"There were two rockets. There are no injuries, no damage," said Abdal Sharif, one of the rebels fighting the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Anti-aircraft guns at the checkpoint opened fire and people ran out into the street near the oil compound.

AFP reporters saw two craters measuring two metres (six feet) across, about 20 metres from the road and 50 metres from the checkpoint. Just minutes earlier, Colonel Bashir al-Moghrabi, one of the rebel leaders in Ras Lanuf, rubbished claims that Gaddafi's forces had retaken the strategic oil site.

"Gaddafi says they took back Ras Lanuf, but we are still here in Ras Lanuf and not only here, but further ," he told reporters outside the only hotel in the town. AFP correspondents are among a number of foreign journalists staying in a hotel on the western outskirts of Ras Lanuf and there were no sounds of any fighting around the town during the night.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/2/8/7079/World/Region/Air-strike-on-rebelheld-Libyan-oil-town.aspx

[jakeXT]

1. LIBYAN REBELS SAY SHOOT DOWN HELICOPTER IN FIGHTING WITH GADDAFI

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE72506H20110306


Libya's rebels "shoot down plane"

6/03/2011 7:44:01

Rebels in Libya claim they have shot down a military plane near the city of Ras Lanuf.

It's one of the hot spots in battles between the Gaddafi regime and rebels. Many of them are former soldiers who have switched sides.

The jets have been pounding the rebel forces as they tried to advance towards Tripoli.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=191766



If true, and you'll never know with Libya, it looks more and more like a proper civil war.

[pinboy3niner]

2. That was three days ago

AJE posted a photos of the wreckage of the crashed Libyan Air Force jet, including this one:


http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-6-0

The opposition is armed with anti-aircraft weapons they captured, as well as those delivered to them by defecting Libyan Army units. They're not the best or most sophisticated AA systems, but apparently they're doing the job.

[maddezmom]

3. today rebel claim they shot down a helicopter

Libya rebels say shoot down helicopter in east
Sun Mar 6, 2011 10:18am GMT
Print | Single Page<-> Text <+> RAS LANUF, Libya, March 6 (Reuters) - Libyan rebels said they had shot down a helicopter during battles with forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in eastern Libya on Sunday.
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE72506H20110306

[pinboy3niner]

4. Yes, I posted that in Catherina's thread

No confirmation yet, but probably true. The Free Libya fighters are doing well, even with AA weapons that aren't terribly sophisticated.

Maybe it's time to resuscitate an old expression: UP THE REBELS!

:hi: Great job putting up your LBN OP's, maddezmom! Keep up the good work! :thumbsup:

Love & Peace,
pinboy3niner

[maddezmom]

5. Gaddafi troops' 'gains' disputed

Gaddafi troops' 'gains' disputedLatest
Rebels say they want to move towards Sirte, Colonel Gaddafi's hometown

Eyewitnesses and rebels say four towns which Libyan forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi claim to have retaken remain under rebel control.

BBC correspondents say that Tobruk and Ras Lanuf remain in rebel hands.

Anti-Gaddafi forces still control Misrata and Zawiya, residents and rebels said.

But both Misrata and Ras Lanuf came under renewed attack on Sunday, and clashes have been reported in the small town of Bin Jawad.

more:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12658405

[maddezmom]

6. 2:55pm Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report from Benghazi that anti-Gaddafi fighters shot down

2:55pm Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report from Benghazi that anti-Gaddafi fighters shot down two Libyan air force jets between Bin Jawad and Ras Lanuf, and that two pilots - both reportedly Syrians - have been arrested.

The reporter said "a large number" of volunteer fighters are moving west from Benghazi to reinforce the fight against Gaddafi troops

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-6-0

[maddezmom]

7. Gaddafi forces drive back rebels east of Sirte

Gaddafi forces drive back rebels east of Sirte
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12:57pm GMT
Rebels say hit by Gaddafi forces east of Sirte
10:15am GMT
Gaddafi forces step up attack on western rebel town
Sat, Mar 5 2011
Rebels in Libyan city repel repeated attacks
Sat, Mar 5 2011
Death toll rises in east from fighting, blast
Sat, Mar 5 2011Sun Mar 6, 2011 12:22pm GMT

* Gaddafi forces ambush rebels at Bin Jawad, drive them back

* Unclear if "hit and run" or concerted counter-attack

* "We have our brothers in Sirte," rebel commander says

(Recasts, updates with fresh eyewitness accounts)

By Mohammed Abbas and Alexander Dziadosz

RAS LANUF, Libya, March 6 (Reuters) - Ground forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, backed up by warplanes, pushed rebels away from the coastal town of Bin Jawad on Sunday to stop their advance on Gaddafi's home town Sirte.

One fighter, returning wounded from Bin Jawad to rebel-held Ras Lanuf further east, said Gaddafi loyalists had attacked advancing rebels with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Asked what he had seen, he replied: "Death." Distraught and bandaged, he would not say any more.

Rebels had taken Bin Jawad, 160 km (100 miles) from Sirte, on Saturday but later withdrew, which let army units occupy local homes and set up sniper and rocket propelled grenade positions for an ambush that forced rebels back to Ras Lanuf.

more:http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/06/libya-east-idUKLDE72504Y20110306

[maddezmom]

8. Gaddafi tanks shell Libya's third city Misrata

Gaddafi tanks shell Libya's third city Misrata
Fears of further bloodshed as regime forces launch heavy artillery attack on rebel stronghold AFP , Sunday 6 Mar 2011
Print Send Tanks shelled the centre of rebel-held Misrata on Sunday, a resident of Libya's third biggest city said, warning of "carnage" if the international community did not intervene.

"Tanks are shelling the centre of the city, near the radio headquarters. We are also hearing heavy automatic weapon fire," the resident said on condition of anonymity. Firing was clearly audible over the telephone.

more:http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/7092/World/Region/Gaddafi-tanks-shell-Libyas-third-city-Misrata-.aspx

[Name removed]

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[Turborama]

10. Sky News: Gaddafi Gunships Fire On Rebels

Nicola Boden and Kat Higgins, Sky News Online

The Libyan uprising has escalated into open warfare as forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi launch counter-offensives against three rebel-held towns.

The anti-regime fighters are attempting to cut a path west towards Sirte and beyond to Tripoli in the far west, the main stronghold for the leader.

But they have been attacked by military troops using warplanes, helicopters, tanks and artillery.

They secured control of the oil ports Brega and Ras Lanuf and were advancing when the warplanes swooped.

Full article: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Libya-Rebels-Forced-Back-From-Bin-Jawad-After-Ambush-By-Gaddafi-Troops/Article/201103115946506?lpos=World_News_Carousel_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15946506_Libya:_Rebels_Forced_Back_From_Bin_Jawad_After_Ambush_By_Gaddafi_Troops