Libyan forces 'enter outskirts of Benghazi'

[Turborama]

Source: Al Jazeera English

Last Modified: March 19 2011 08:09 GMT

Reports from Libya say pro-government forces have entered the western outskirts of the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, with the city's south also believed to be under heavy bombardment.

Witnesses in Bengazi, in the east of the country, reported hearing large explosions in the area early on Saturday.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from Benghazi, told of multiple explosions taking place and a fighter jet being shot down.

Fresh fighting was also reported in the rebel-held towns of Misurata, near the capital Tripoli, and Ajdabiya, which lies close to Benghazi.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201131934914112208.html

---

From http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-19">today's AJE Live Blog...

10:49am
http://twitter.com/#!/blakehounshell">Blake Hounshell, Managing Editor of Foreign Policy magazine, sent us this footage from today's attack on Benghazi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHwZjb_W6xU

A huge explosions is seen over the outskirts of Benghazi after a plane of Gadhafi's forces
was shot down over eastern Libya, Saturday, March 19, 2011. Explosions shook the Libyan city
of Benghazi early on Saturday while a fighter jet was heard flying overhead, and residents
said the eastern rebel stronghold was under attack from Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
http://www.daylife.com/photo/03nx3QqgiZ9ul?q=libya


(Hat tip to Tx4obama for the link to the photos posted http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4778009#4778022">here)

[Turborama]

1. Al Jazeera reporters in Benghazi say that their vehicle has been hit by a mortar round

9:36am
Al Jazeera reporters in Benghazi say that their vehicle has been hit by a mortar round - the vehicle was not occupied at the time.

10:09am
Picture of the Al Jazeera vehicle that was hit in Benghazi:



from: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-19

[Turborama]

2. 11:26am Abdul Jalil also tells us that Benghazi hospitals are now being flooded with victims.

11:26am
Abdul Jalil also tells us that Benghazi hospitals are now being flooded with victims. He says that the pro-democracy fighters do not have enough weapons and numbers to confront Gaddafi:

"We only have light arms - Gaddafi seems to have new and powerful weapons."

11:11am
Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the head of the Libyan Interim Council, tells Al Jazeera that residential areas in Benghazi are under attack by artillery and tanks. He also said that the plane shot down belongs to the rebels.

10:55am
Al Jazeera's James Bays reporting live from Benghazi:

We are still hearing gunfire in the distance - I heard an explosion just moments ago from that direction...

We have seen anti-aircraft guns going along the road in that direction, we have also seen ambulances and medical staff making their way in that direction in the last half hour or so...

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-19

[Turborama]

3. AFP: Hundreds fleeing Libyan rebel city of Benghazi

Agence France-Presse
First Posted 18:11:00 03/19/2011

BENGHAZI—Hundreds of people fled eastward from Libya's second city of Benghazi Saturday, as fighting raged around the rebel-held stronghold between insurgents and government forces, an AFP correspondent said.

Very heavy traffic clogged the road but rebel checkpoints were still manned and fighters screamed defiance against Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, as a large plume of smoke was seen rising from the city behind them.

A man with a green flag standing in the road shouted, "Gadhafi will die, Gadhafi will die."

Opposition media outlets said Benghazi was coming under attack from the west, as foreign countries prepared military action to enforce a United Nations Security Council resolution directed at Gadhafi.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20110319-326416/Hundreds-fleeing-Libyan-rebel-city-of-Benghazi

[pinboy3niner]

4. CNN's Arwa Damon talked to one family that was leaving...

...after small arms fire hit their house.

[Turborama]

5. AJE has been showing footage of a house that was hit by a rocket.Children inside were injured/killed

Not sure which. Massive damage to the house and blood everywhere, though.

What the fuck use is this resolution if they don't do anything to stop it now?

Once Gaddafi's militias get into the city it'll be worthless and that's it, game over for the revolutionaries.

[pinboy3niner]

6. Rebel leader appeals to "free world, to stop this tyranny from exterminating civilians"

The Guardian:

10.51am:

A rebel leader in Benghazi has appealed to the international community to stop the bombardment of the city by Gaddafi's forces.

Mustafa Abdul Jalil told Al Jazeera television:

"Now there is a bombardment by artillery and rockets on all districts of Benghazi. There will be a catastrophe if the international community does not implement the resolutions of the UN security council.

"We appeal to the international community, to the all the free world, to stop this tyranny from exterminating civilians."

Another rebel spokesman, Khalid al-Sayeh, told Reuters that Gaddafi's forces had "entered Benghazi from the west":

"Where are the Western powers? They said they could strike within hours."


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/mar/19/libya-live-blog-ceasefire-nofly

[Igel]

11. The rebels seem disappointed.

On the other hand, they think it's worth the price. It's rude to say, but still true: Artillery rounds weren't hitting Benghazi a couple of months ago. They are now. What's changed?

If I were sitting there as one of the rebels, I'd have to face the hard choice: Continue to uphold the rebellion and fight to dispose of Gaddafi, even if I knew that the reason the shells were falling was to stop me and my colleagues, or send up the white flag and stop the fight. These educated, wise folk can't bring themselves to even pose the question, it would seem. Their actions are only to have good consequences.

It's the same choice in every revolution, in every rebellion, in every conflict. These folk want the choice to be made cost-free and risk-free, however, so that the revolution is guaranteed no losses of its own but lots of dead enemies. And if somebody else can provide the dead enemies, so much the better. Then, in the name of self-determination, they can be granted the victory that others have gained them and take power: Rulers unable to count the cost of policies, unable to think through consequences to their actions, unable to face hard decisions.

[xchrom]

7. recommend

[riverwalker]

8. Battle for Benghazi

http://robcrilly.wordpress.com/

Battle for Benghazi
Posted on March 19, 2011 by Rob Crilly|

It came in from the sea, somewhere to the north. At first the residents of Benghazi cheered, believing it would herald the start of air strikes against Gaddafi forces still rumbling towards their city. “Is it European,” shouted one. Then it swung back around the city, describing, a high, slow circle even as artillery shells pounded the outskirts of the city. If it was a Mirage then maybe it was one of Gaddafi’s last. <more>.

[Turborama]

9. Reuters: Rebels say Gaddafi troops enter Benghazi

By Mohammed Abbas
BENGHAZI, Libya | Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:32am GMT

(Reuters) - Rebels said forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi stormed Benghazi on Saturday and they appealed to the West to launch military strikes to halt the advance of the Libyan leader's troops on their eastern bastion.

Gaddafi's tanks, artillery and warplanes, one of which was shot down, bombarded the city, rebels said, a day after Libya's foreign minister announced a cease-fire following a U.N. resolution that authorised Western military intervention.

The Libyan government denied it was attacking Benghazi, said it was respecting the cease-fire and accused rebels of raiding villages and towns to draw in the West.

"They have entered Benghazi from the west. Where are the Western powers? They said they could strike within hours," Khalid al-Sayeh, a rebel military spokesman, told Reuters.

Much more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/uk-libya-east-idUKTRE72I0UB20110319

[IamK]

10. The UN forgot to say PLEASE i guess....