LIBYA: Burnt out military vehicles and over a dozen bodies of Muammar Gaddafi's soldiers lie near Benghazi

Record ID: 277513

  • Title: LIBYA: Burnt out military vehicles and over a dozen bodies of Muammar Gaddafi's soldiers lie near Benghazi
  • Date: 21st March 2011
  • Summary: REBELS AT SCENE OF ATTACK VARIOUS OF SMOULDERING VEHICLES SMOULDERING BURNED OUT TANK WITH TURRET BLOWN OFF REBELS AT SCENE OF ATTACK TRUCK STILL BURNING AFTER ATTACK TRUCK TYRES ON FIRE
  • Embargoed: 5th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: War / Fighting,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6I8AFZ6I3T0YATAW20A1C0E87
  • Story Text: Burnt out military vehicles and over a dozen bodies of Muammar Gaddafi's soldiers lie along a strategic road in east Libya after Western powers launch air strikes that have galvanised embattled rebels.
    Muammar Gaddafi's wrecked tanks and other army vehicles smouldered on a strategic road in east Libya on Sunday (March 20) after Western powers launched air strikes that galvanised embattled rebels.
    Rebels who had been driven back to their stronghold of Benghazi by the Libyan leader's air, sea and land offensive in the past two weeks were returning in 4x4 pick-ups to the town of Ajdabiyah, the hard fought over gateway to the east.
    The road the rebels drove was a scene of devastation. A Reuters correspondent counted at least 14 corpses, though the scale of the bombardment made identifying bodies difficult.
    Other rebels claimed some of the credit from earlier fighting, though they had failed to the hold ground against the Gaddafi's far superior firepower.
    About 14 tanks, 20 armoured personnel carriers, two trucks with multiple rocket launchers and dozens of pick-ups -- all destroyed -- were visible, indicating the strength of the force sent to retake Benghazi from rebels.
    One tank was a blackened wreck with its turret blown off.
    Another tank, a tank transporter and armoured personnel carriers smouldered. A few hundred metres (yards) ahead, munitions were still exploding as flames licked around vehicles and stores.
    Rebels had pleaded for military intervention as they were pushed back and as Gaddafi vowed "no mercy, no pity" as he advanced towards Benghazi where the interim rebel National Libyan Council has its headquarters.
    France led the calls for intervention and its planes were the first into Libyan airspace to launch raids, before U.S. and British warships and submarines fired 110 Tomahawk missiles overnight against air defences.
    Rebels were heavily outgunned by Gaddafi before the West acted. This month, they reached the town of Bin Jawad about 525 km (330 miles) east of Tripoli before being driven back to Ajdabiyah, more than 700 km (440 miles) from the capital.
    As they retreated, they lost a series of key coastal oil towns such as Es Sider, Ras Lanuf and Brega.
    The rebels, who have mainly relied on 4x4 pickups mounted with machine guns, could not withstand the bombardments from warplanes, artillery and tanks.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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