LIBYA: New recruits who will fight alongside rebel soldiers against leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces undergo training at a camp in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi

Record ID: 346311

  • Title: LIBYA: New recruits who will fight alongside rebel soldiers against leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces undergo training at a camp in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi
  • Date: 12th May 2011
  • Summary: BENGHAZI, LIBYA (MAY 11, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF TRAINING CAMP SIGN "MARTYRS' BRIGADE" RECRUITS RUNNING RECRUITS SEATED LISTENING TO INSTRUCTOR INSTRUCTOR HOLDING ROCKET PROPELLED GRENADE (RPG) LAUNCHER RECRUITS JOGGING IN PLACE FEET MARCHING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RETIRED COLONEL SHABAN YOUNIS, INSTRUCTOR, SAYING "These are rebel fighters who are being trained to use light weapons. Next week we have a celebration rally with God's will. They will be given training on intense attacks in the fields, attacking buildings and arsenals." RECRUITS JOGGING MORE OF RECRUITS JOGGING LIBYAN REBEL FLAG
  • Embargoed: 27th May 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Reuters ID: LVA6ZEQ7XRTG657HFSC65AJ0EFFK
  • Story Text: Behind the walls of this training camp in the Libyan opposition stronghold of Benghazi are men who have volunteered to fight forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
    The recruits number about 100 and come from all over the country. They undergo basic military training and special courses on artillery and weaponry in this "Martyrs Brigade" camp.
    "These are rebel fighters who are being trained to use light weapons. Next week we have a celebration rally with God's will. They will be given training on intense attacks in the fields, attacking buildings and arsenals," said retired colonel Shaban Younis, one of the instructors in the camp.
    After they finish their month-long training, they will be posted to front-line to fight Gaddafi's forces.
    The rebels are fighting to end Gaddafi's 41 years in power but the war has reached stalemate with Gaddafi in control of the capital and almost all of the west of the country while rebels control Benghazi and other towns in the oil-producing east.
    On Wednesday (May 11), Libyan rebels were reported to have taken control of Misrata airport after heavy fighting with forces loyal to Gaddafi, while a United Nations call for a ceasefire was rejected.
    Misrata is the only major city the rebels hold in the west and for eight weeks Gaddafi's forces have besieged it leading to fierce fighting in which hundreds have been killed.
    U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Wednesday for an "immediate, verifiable ceasefire" in Libya but rebels fighting in western Libya dismissed the idea.
    Gaddafi's government has made several ceasefire declarations but has continued attacks on Misrata and other rebel-held areas including the Western Mountains near the Tunisian border.
    The Libyan government says the rebels are armed criminals and al Qaeda militants and that the majority of Libyans support Gaddafi, who has been in power since 1969.
    It also says NATO's intervention aimed at protecting civilians is an act of colonial aggression by Western powers bent on stealing the country's oil.
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