LIBYA: Libyan rebels run into stiff resistance by pro-Gaddafi forces on road to Sirte

Record ID: 375000

  • Title: LIBYA: Libyan rebels run into stiff resistance by pro-Gaddafi forces on road to Sirte
  • Date: 30th March 2011
  • Summary: 15KM (9 MILES) WEST OF BIN JAWAD, LIBYA (MARCH 29, 2011) (REUTERS) REBEL WITH GUN CROUCHING ON THE ROAD REBELS ON PICK UP TRUCK MOVE TO SIDE OF ROAD WITH HEAVY MACHINE GUN REBEL FIRING HEAVY MACHINE GUN REBELS WITH GUNS IN BUSH REBEL IN BUSH FIRING GUNS MORE OF REBELS FIRING GUNS REBEL FIRING HEAVY MACHINE GUN FROM THE ROAD REBEL FIRING RPG (ROCKET PROPELLED GRENAD
  • Embargoed: 14th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Reuters ID: LVA3SYXGJM6SM59L9UGERYL8SISV
  • Story Text: Libyan rebels were pushing towards Sirte on Tuesday (March 29) after suffering a set back the night before when they were repelled by Gaddafi forces firing heavy weapons as they approached the town of Nawfaliyah, 120 km (75 miles) from Sirte.
    They retreated to Bin Jawad, 20 km (12 miles) from Nawfailyah, before getting back on the road.
    Some 15 km (9 miles) down that road, they clashed again with Gaddafi forces shooting at them.
    The rebel unit was ambushed from high ground, coming under fire from small arms, light mortars and rocket propelled grenades.
    Rebel fighters waiting on the open desert road leaped behind dunes and mounds of earth and shot at the Gaddafi troops as they arrived.
    As the onslaught grew, the rebels ran to their pick-up trucks and sped off down the road to Bin Jawad, about 150 km ( 93 miles) east of Gaddafi's home town of Sirte.
    Bullets zipped overhead and shells landed on and near the road as they retreated.
    Gaddafi forces appeared to end their attack several kilometres west of Bin Jawad and the rebels stopped in the town to wait and regroup.
    The rebel fighters had raced along the coastline retaking several oil towns after Western warplanes began air strikes on Gaddafi positions in the east and west of the desert country on March 19.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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