Libya’s rebels said they suffered many casualties yesterday as they advanced on Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in the western port of Zawiyah, after losing a tank and four fighters in a “friendly fire” air strike.
“Our forces are in control of the western and southern gates of Zawiyah, and have pushed three kilometres into the city,” Bashir Ahmed Ali, commander of the battalion fighting to wrest the town from loyalist forcessaid.
The city of 200,000 and just 50 kilometres west of Tripoli attempted to rise against Col Gaddafi months ago, near the start of Libya’s civil war, but was crushed. Zawiyah has been a key target for rebels waging a new offensive from the mountains in Libya’s far west, near Tunisia’s border.
A reporter in Zawiyah said pro-Gaddafi snipers were shooting at rebels from an overpass deep in the city. Sporadic loud booms could be heard echoing across the city, and a column of heavy black smoke rose over the outskirts.
“Freedom, freedom,” chanted a group of men greeting rebels inside Zawiyah. One of those in the crowd rolled up his pants to show black-and-blue bruises he said came from a beating by pro-Gaddafi forces who have been in control of the city for months.
Zawiyah’s residents rose up against the regime shortly after therevolt against Col Gaddafi began in February. But Gaddafi forces retaliated and crushed opposition in the city in a long and bloody siege in March. Many of Zawiyah’s rebels fled into the western mountains - and were among the lead forces advancing on the city on Saturday.
If they can hold it, the rebels’ capture of Zawiyah would strain Col Gaddafi’s troops, which have been hammered for months by Nato airstrikes. Defending Zawiyah is key for the regime but could require bringing in better trained forces who are currently ensuring its hold over Tripoli or fighting rebels on fronts further east.
A group of about 200 exuberant rebel fighters, advancing from the south, reached a bridge on Zawiyah’s southwestern outskirts on Saturday, and some rebels pushed farther into the city’s central main square. They tore down the green flag of Gaddafi’s regime from a mosque minaret and put up two rebel flags.
The city was tense yesterday, with the rebels erecting numerous checkpoints inside and on the road leading to it from the west. At one checkpoint, rebels fired in the air to restore order when a crowd gathered around a man who refused to open his car’s trunk for inspection.
“Fifth column, fifth column,” shouted the crowd, suggesting that the motorist may be a spy for Gaddafi forces. He eventually opened the trunk to show there was nothing suspicious.Zawiyah was one of the first cities to rise up against the Gaddafi regime. In early March, rebels repelled repeated attacked by Gaddafi forces to retake the city, only to be crushed later that month.