LIBYA: Rebel leaders give military training to hundreds of volunteers in a bid to create fighting force ready to take on Muammar Gaddafi's army

Record ID: 346177

  • Title: LIBYA: Rebel leaders give military training to hundreds of volunteers in a bid to create fighting force ready to take on Muammar Gaddafi's army
  • Date: 4th April 2011
  • Summary: BENGHAZI, LIBYA (APRIL 3, 2011) (REUTERS) LIBYAN ARMY CAPTAIN TEACHING TRAINEES TRAINEES LISTENING VARIOUS OF CAPTAIN GIVING LECTURE AND TRAINEES LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) TRAINEE OFFICER, SALEM MOHAMED, SAYING: "Those who are here are all civilians: students, teachers, engineers, doctors, some of them are ordinary workers, some of them are former soldiers. We don't have any particular type of intake here." VARIOUS OF MAN CLEANING WEAPON VARIOUS OF MEN INSPECTING WEAPON (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) TRAINEE OFFICER, SALEM MOHAMED, SAYING: "We are all trying to defend ourselves. We found that we had to do this and therefore everyone came out to defend themselves." VARIOUS OF OFFICER SHOWING TRAINEES HOW TO USE AN ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) STUDENT FROM BENGHAZI, MOHAMED SALEH, SAYING: "Everyone is being trained in how to fire and use heavy weapons." (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BAKER FROM BENGHAZI, ASHRAF MOHAMED, SAYING: "Of course, we are not experienced enough and that is why we are here, to be trained in firing rifles and other weapons." VARIOUS OF TRAINING SESSION MAN FIRING A GUN VARIOUS OF TRAINEES IN CLASS
  • Embargoed: 19th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: War / Fighting,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVABVBKFGKBSS7IVOBKM84P8NRBR
  • Story Text: Hundreds of civilians flocked to a military base in Benghazi on Sunday (April 3) to prepare themselves to join rebel fighters in their battle against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
    Volunteers from all walks of life attended military training sessions to learn how to fight.
    "Those who are here are all civilians: students, teachers, engineers, doctors, some of them are ordinary workers, some of them are former soldiers. We don't have any particular type of intake here," said trainee officer Salem Mohamed.
    He said the new recruits were keen to play their part.
    "We are all trying to defend ourselves. We found that we had to do this and therefore everyone came out to defend themselves," he said.
    Rebels say they are being hampered in their efforts against Gaddafi's forces by large numbers of untrained youngsters joining the battle. Hundreds of young volunteers have continued to flock towards the front line of Libya's revolt, even if many cannot fight.
    Trainees in Benghazi said they were learning the necessary skills.
    "Everyone is being trained in how to fire and use heavy weapons," said student Mohamed Saleh.
    "Of course, we are not experienced enough and that is why we are here, to be trained in firing rifles and other weapons," added Ashraf Mohamed, a baker.
    Hoping to break a stalemate, rebels fighting Gaddafi's troops, tanks and artillery are trying to reorganise their military forces. They say they are bringing to the front better trained units, made up of defectors from the military.
    But the persistent zeal of the volunteers has frustrated some of the more experienced fighters.
    Rebel military commanders asked volunteers last week to hang back from clashes with forces loyal to Gaddafi to allow more experienced fighters to coordinate strategy following a chaotic eastward retreat on Wednesday (March 30).
    But with schools and many businesses still shut and young men with little to do, the volunteers' vehicles -- an eclectic blend of pickup trucks, minivans and even taxicabs -- still litter the road outside Brega, the eastern oil town where fighting has rumbled on for four days.
    Outside Brega, better rebel discipline was already in evidence on Sunday with the less disciplined volunteers, and journalists, kept several kilometres (miles) east of the front.
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