Outgunned Libyan rebels called on coalition forces to launch fresh air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's loyalists after fleeing the key oil town of Ras Lanuf under heavy fire this morning.
Members of the ragtag army, who regrouped near Brega, 240 kilometres south of the rebel stronghold Benghazi, also said they were in need of arms to take on Gaddafi's forces.
"We want two things: that the planes drop bombs on Gaddafi's tanks and heavy artillery; and that they (the coalition forces) give us weapons so we can fight," rebel fighter Yunes Abdelghaim told AFP.
The 27-year-old, who was holding a Russian AK-47 assault rifle and French flag, said it seemed as if the coalition had halted its air strikes for two days coinciding with a London conference on the Libyan crisis.
There were around 200 rebels at a checkpoint outside Brega, who stood watching across the desert, their view limited to a few kilometres by sand in the air.
They had abandoned Ras Lanuf in their hundreds and retreated from the front lines through Uqayla, about 20 kilometres to the east.
"We are facing a big problem. We are pulling back," said one fighter, Salama Dadida, as hundreds of cars and pickup trucks sped from Uqayla towards Brega, where they regrouped before heading further up the road towards the main city of Ajdabiya.
"Gaddafi's troops are firing rockets and tank shells," he said.
"We want the French to bomb the (Gaddafi) soldiers," said another fighter, Ali Atia al-Faturi, as the sound of shelling and gunfire grew louder.
Before leaving Brega, the insurgents closed down the small hospital and loaded up three wounded fighters, whom they said would be transferred to a hospital in Ajdabiya.
Yesterday the rebels seeking to topple Gaddafi came within 100 km of Sirte, the strongman's hometown, before encountering fierce resistance from loyalist troops.
Under barrages of artillery fire, rebel fighters stampeded from the scene, many fleeing aboard pickup trucks, reversing an advance launched when Britain, France and the United States started UN-mandated air strikes on March 19.
They huddled down in Ras Lanuf overnight but soon after dawn Gaddafi's forces pressed east and began shelling the small town, a strategic location due to its oil refinery.
Paris has not ruled out arming the rebels and Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said at a London conference yesterday that France is prepared to hold discussions on the issue.