Libyan rebels 'capture' city near Tripoli

AL Jazeera Africa

With city of Zlitan in their control, oppostion aims to surround Tripoli in push to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi. Last Modified: 19 Aug 2011 17:38

Local residents celebrate after Libyan rebel fighters drove Gaddafi forces from Gharyan, south of Tripoli [Reuters] Libya's opposition fighters claimed to have captured the city of Zlitan, in a deepening push towards the capital, Tripoli, and a further threat to the forces of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The assault on Zlitan, just 150km east of the capital, began around 7:30am local time [0530GMT], and "at 1:00pm local time our information indicates that the rebel troops entered the city centre", the information centre for Misrata military council said in a statement on Friday. At least 26 rebels are reported to have been killed in the fighting for Zlitan, as forces loyal to Gaddafi used tanks and heavy weapons to repel the attack. Another 150 opposition fighters were reported injured. The rebels said between 40 and 50 of Gaddafi's forces were also killed in the fighting. Reuters news agency reported fierce fighting continuing into Friday evening and a large number of wounded brought to the rebels' field hospital. Residents inside the city are said to be rising up against Gaddafi's forces, according to Reuters. NATO issued a statement that said its air strikes had destroyed a command centre, two armed vehicles and five tanks near Zlitan. The rebels claimed on Thursday that they had captured a 120,000-barrel-per-day refinery that could be a turning point in the six-month civil war. Shashank Joshi from the Royal United Service Institute in London, who spoke to Al Jazeera on the latest rebel offensive, said what the rebels have learnt from past mistakes is that they need to move forward methodically. "They can't just rush ahead and take ground and then forced to move back," he said. "They have observed that lesson and I think very effectively, and which is why they are still fighting to clear Az Zawiyah. "They have taken a number of days to fight their way through to take the refinery and they have worked very hard for that, which is why they are very likely, this time around unlike on previous occasions, to actually hold the ground they had taken." The flow of crude to the refinery from fields in the southwest of Libya had largely been halted since midsummer and its capture was unlikely to have a major impact on Gaddafi's ability to secure fuel, but it was seen as a significant step in the rebel advance toward the capital. Opposition forces also claimed to be in control of the town of Surman, 60km west of Tripoli, and Gharyan, 50km to the south. Fighting rages in Az Zawiyah A fierce onslaught by regime troops in Az Zawiya, just 50km west of Tripoli, signaled the slow and bloody push for opposition fighters as they try to advance toward the capital. Still, Gaddafi's troops seemed increasingly isolated, scrambling to use all force available to hold back rebels at the western front, according to news reports. Joshi said, "The significance of Az Zawiyah cannot be seen in isolation, we have to see it in combination of what’s going on in Gharyan, south of Tripoli and Zlitan to the east." Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage "And all of these locations can be consolidated and their grip solidified, and we are going to see Tripoli being put in a state of siege." NATO has stepped up bombings in Tripoli in recent days, while rebels blocked Gaddafi's supply route from Tunisia. Az Zawiya was one of the first cities to rise up against the Gaddafi regime when the Libyan revolt began in mid-February on the heels of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. Protests were quickly crushed by the Gaddafi regime, even going as far as razing a local mosque in the main square that rebels used as a meeting point and makeshift hospital. Target: Tripoli The Libyan opposition has been seeking to sever Tripoli's supply lines from Tunisia to the west and to Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte in the east in a move to cut off the capital, prompt defections and spark an uprising inside Gaddafi’s stronghold. Meanwhile, NATO continued with its air raids in parts of Tripoli. Loud explosions rocked the capital early on Friday, as flames lit up skies near Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compund and army barracks. IN VIDEO Expert analyses Libyan rebels' latest offensive In Tripoli, a government official said that NATO had killed the brother of Gaddafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim. The official said Hasan Ibrahim, 25, and others were struck by bullets fired from an Apache helicopter while on foot in Zawiya's central square. The revolt in Libya began in mid-February, with the rebels quickly wresting control of much of the eastern half of the country, as well as pockets in the west. The conflict later settled into a stalemate with the rebels failing to budge the front lines in the east since April, and making only minor gains from the areas they controled in the east and in the western Nafusa mountains. But this week the rebels made enormous gains in capturing many western towns and claiming to control the road from Tripoli to the Tunisian border, the main supply line of the capital. Joshi, however, said the rebels would need to move carefully. "I won't expect any kind of rush in next several days and hope they would take all the strategic patience required."

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

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