Gadhafi forces push toward western gate

By Chris Hondros, Getty Images

Libyan rebels sit in the back of a truck on the western edge of Ajdabiyah as they tried to stop advances by pro-Gadhafi troops.

EnlargeCloseBy Chris Hondros, Getty Images

Libyan rebels sit in the back of a truck on the western edge of Ajdabiyah as they tried to stop advances by pro-Gadhafi troops.

The western gate had effectively become the new rebel front. Early Friday, fighters there said Gadhafi's forces were within 12 miles of the city. On Wednesday, they were at least 40 miles out.

Beyond the gate, only a few rebel trucks ventured forward on scouting missions. One was hit with gunfire 11 miles from the gate and a rebel was wounded.

In previous days, the western gate has been a hectic staging ground for scores of combat vehicles and hundreds of fighters preparing to drive the desert road to the front line.

The mood among the soldiers has often bordered on boisterous, marked by flag-waving and displays of bravado. On Friday, the gate was more sparsely guarded and more tense than usual.

Edgy rebels fired bursts of gunfire in the air and broke out into fistfights among themselves.

Gadhafi forces fired a salvo of mortars at the position around 3:30 p.m., blasting dirt and rocks about 200 yards away. The force panicked and fled, leaving behind only a handful of fighters who didn't jump into a speeding vehicle, repeating what has become a familiar pattern. The rebels tend to run when attacked rather than dig in and fight.

More explosions were heard around Ajdabiya later.

Ajdabiya was in rebel hands at the beginning of the revolution in mid-February, but was taken by Gadhafi forces a month later. United Nations-authorized airstrikes took out much of Gadhafi's defenses around the city and it has been under rebel control since late March.

For Gadhafi, Ajdabiya provides a critical link to Tobruk, an oil-rich coastal city. If Gadhafi were to connect those dots, it would tighten a noose around the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Late Friday, the rebels seemed to regroup. American photographer Nicole Tung, who stayed at the western gate until twilight, reported that a column of pickups mounted with heavy weapons advanced through the gate toward Gadhafi forces.

Rebel fighters told Tung they had reclaimed ground about 25 miles out, but that couldn't be independently verified.

Meanwhile, in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in eastern Libya, angry crowds fired into the air and chanted against Gadhafi's regime as militiamen killed in the NATO airstrike were carried for burial.

"The martyrs' blood is not shed in vain!" cried some of the thousands of people gathered in central Benghazi to pray and mourn some of the dead from the attack on rebel tanks and vehicles.

The main clashes Friday between rebels and Gadhafi forces appeared to be in Misrata, where rebels want to retain a foothold in Gadhafi's territory and his government wants to consolidate control over the west with NATO airstrikes bearing down.

Heavy shelling was heard at nightfall outside the city, where some neighborhoods have been nearly abandoned after residents fled to safer areas during weeks of fighting.

Outside Ajdabiya, rebel fighters slapped peach-colored paint on their vehicles to try to distinguish from the pro-Gadhafi units.

"We are painting the trucks so NATO won't hit us," said Salam Salim, a 29-year-old rebel militiaman.

Tensions between the rebels and NATO were flaring even before the latest accident, with the fighters criticizing the alliance for doing too little to help them.

Last week, NATO took control over the international airstrikes that began March 19 as a U.S.-led mission. The airstrikes thwarted Gadhafi's efforts to crush the rebellion he has ruled for more than four decades, but the rebels remain outnumbered and outgunned and have had difficulty in making headway into government-held territory.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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