Rebel fighters southwest of the Libyan capital are all fired up. They are not yet outside Asabah but the rebels regained the initiative after a see-saw battle.

The insurgents had for a week been preparing to do battle for Asabah, strategically located 80 kilometres from Tripoli and the last barrier between them and the garrison town of Gharyan.

On Wednesday, the rebels reversed a bid by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi to recapture the desert hamlet of Gualish in a hail of fire. Initially the regime loyalists caught the rebels off guard and seized nearly all of Gualish.

But then reinforcements poured in from surrounding villages, drove Gaddafi’s troops out and then engaged in hot pursuit, chasing them up the road towards Asabah.

Young rebel fighter Hatem Abu Malsa was yesterday still in a state of euphoria at the audacity of the rapid rebel advance.

Spurred on by the thrill of the counter-attack, the fighters had advanced the previous night, taking hill after hill using only their automatic weapons.

But local commander Abdel Majid Salem said the bulk of the rebel force returned early yesterday to “secure the area” around Gualish, some 17 kilometres further south, but that some remained outside Asabah.

“We’re going to attack tomorrow, or maybe the day after,” said Abu Malsa. “In Asabah there was smoke over buildings bombarded by the rebels. You could see Gaddafi’s men around the houses,” said the 24-year-old.

“It’s fantastic, we pushed them back. God is with us. We will never give up – either we win or we die,” added another fighter, 25, who is from Tripoli and did not want to be identified for the safety of his family.

The rebels brought their heavy weaponry up to the front line as they prepared their battle plan and observed the movements of Gaddafi’s forces. But the rebel commanders remained cautious.

If the loyalist forces were able to launch a counter-offensive on Gualish, it was because it was practically void of rebel fighters. At one point, the previous day, it was almost empty.

And Gaddafi’s men attacked from a different direction than was expected.

“There were just a few rebels in Gualish and they hadn’t checked the area properly. It was a mistake,” said respected commander Mokhtar Lakhdar. “For several days, all the liberated villages were supposed to do this.”

And the rebel advance on Asabah, home to a large military base where most of the population is pro-regime and armed, came amid scenes of total confusion, given that it was to be one of the hardest fights since the revolt began.

At least eight rebels were killed and around 30 wounded in Wednesday’s fighting, said doctors at the hospital in Zintan, the key rebel base in the Nefusa mountains.

“We could have saved several lives. The fighters for freedom are brave and enthusiastic. I told them not to go so quickly to Asabah but they did it anyway because they’re so courageous,” commander Lakhdar said.

The insurgents are inexperienced tradesmen and professionals who from one day to the next have found themselves on the front line with a gun in their hands.

Young men like Tomi, 22, who arrived late on Wednesday and is already on the front line, armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

“I stopped working as an interpreter for journalists and joined the rebels,” he said. When the rebels buried their dead in the town of Zintan yesterday, there were tears and farewell bursts of Kalashnikov fire into the air.

“We are so sad to lose these young men but we expected it. This is war and we have to do this, either we defend our homes and our children or Gaddafi’s forces will come in,” said Ahmed Ammar, an oil worker in his 50s.

“When they leave for the front they know there’s a good chance they will die, that it’s not a game.”