Libyan rebels are still underequipped, but they are not giving up — even for Ramadan:
The months of relative quiet on the Brega front were an opportunity for rebels to plan and train for coordinated strategic movement. Rebels enveloped the Eastern city of Brega yesterday:
They are being aided by heavy Nato bombing with the alliance reporting dozens of sorties and 32 military targets destroyed since the offensive began.
Rebel sources said units had entered the suburb of New Brega, meeting fierce resistance, and that a southern push had moved in behind the town, preventing government reinforcements from joining the battle.
Reports of disorganization and retreat by government forces in the East matches interviews with captured government fighters in the West. They paint a picture of collapse:
“Gaddafi’s army is weak,” said Hassan Mohamed, 25, of Nigerian descent. “They don’t have equipment or a lot of money. After seven months they still didn’t pay me. Most soldiers have deserted, some escaped, some left, some stayed. It’s so bad.”
None expressed passion for the cause or a desire to return. Mohammad Ismail Al-Amin, 47, a Libyan citizen of Malian origin, said: “Now I like the revolution because all the world is with it. I regret joining Gaddafi. I left my children.”
The rebels, on the other hand, seem to have no shortage of courage or creativity:
They’ve armed themselves with weapons they’ve captured from Qaddafi forces, and tried to keep them working despite a lack of spare parts.
They’ve used remarkable ingenuity – cannibalizing the rocket launchers off old Libyan air force jets and turning them into ground-attack weapons. On homemade rocket launchers, instead of military-standard igniters, household doorbell buttons will do.
They charge their enemy with a motley collection of old hunting and assault weapons, and use the few larger field pieces they’ve captured in earlier battles.
The regime remains defiant, but has been isolated internationally. The United States has recognized the Libyan Transitional National Council along with 31 other countries. Not only does this further Ghadafi’s irrelevance, it also frees up some $30 billion in much-needed “frozen assets” for the LTNC. Within Libya, however, the regime’s biggest challenge is a gasoline shortage. With rationing and long lines across Tripoli and its suburbs, bicycles are in demand:
Western efforts to choke off fuel to Gaddafi are certainly having an effect in Tripoli. There, long lines of cars waiting to refuel snake several kilometres back from gas stations.
“If I stay in the normal queue it takes me four or five days. I cannot do that,” said one Tripoli resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Some people, they stay for more than five days. I know one of my relatives spent about eight days (in a queue),” he said.
Ghadafi cannot adequately refuel or resupply his forces in the West or East. As Berber tribesmen prepare to descend on the key town of Gharyan, the weight of the rebels’ fuel advantage is clear. NATO has successfully targeted government armor and heavy weapons before their advance. If anything, Libyans seem more than willing to fight their war to its bitter end.
