Brega,
the main oil export terminal in eastern Libya, fell after
a skirmish late on Saturday, and rebels continued their
push westwards to Ras Lanuf and its large oil refinery.
"There is no Gaddafi army in Ras Lanuf," said
Walid al-Arabi, a rebel fighter.
The advance continued today as rebels took control of the
town of Bin Jawad and said they planned to push on towards
Gaddafi's stronghold of Sirte. More than two dozen rebel
trucks were seen going into the town centre, Reuters reported.
The rebels now have regained control of the major oil terminals
in the east of the country.
French
warplanes destroyed five Libyan military aircraft at an
airbase in Misrata. Britain’s defence ministry said
Tornado GR4 planes hit Libyan targets in both Misrata and
Ajdabiya.
According
to an American military spokesperson, the coalition fired
16 Tomahawk cruise missiles and flew 153 sorties in a 24-hour
period from Friday to Saturday morning. |
Libyan
rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi's regime on Sunday recaptured
Bin Jawad, a hamlet 50 kilometres west of the key oil town
of Ras Lanuf, AFP correspondents reported.
The
rebels said they took advantage of French air strikes on
Bin Jawad at 9:00 am (0700 GMT, 3pm Singapore time) that
destroyed several tanks, the wreckages of which were seen
on a road.
Coalition forces flew 160 sorties, or military flights,
over Libya, including 96 designed to strike targets on the
ground, according to the Pentagon. Since the Libyan operation
began more than a week ago, the U.S. has flown 787 sorties,
while coalition allies have flown 470.
“Aircraft
strikes included fixed targets and maneuver forces along
the coastline and near the cities of Tripoli, Misrata and
Ajdabiya,” according to an e-mail yesterday from Navy
Captain Darryn James, a Pentagon spokesman.
|
