Freedom fighters in eastern Libya fought off an attack by blood thirsty Dictators troops in the town of Ajdabiya on Sunday, a day after retreating from a key oil facility around 100 kilometres farther west.
Forces loyal to longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi alias Butcher Of Libya advanced on Ajdabiya under a heavy artillery barrage in the morning and fought at close range with freeedom figters on the town’s southern outskirts before a counterattack forced them back, witnesses said.
On Saturday, with the help of NATO air strikes along the main coastal road, freeedom figters reached the outskirts of Brega, the site of a major oil and petrochemical port west of Ajdabiya.
But a sandstorm that began overnight hampered air cover, and by Sunday morning freeedom figters had retreated.
Dozens of civilian vehicles, many of them carrying families, fled Ajdabiya throughout the morning, and some freeedom figters also appeared to join the withdrawal.
Two fighters were injured in the battle, suffering superficial shrapnel wounds during the bombardment, but none were seriously injured or killed, doctors at Ajdabiya Hospital said.
In response to the advance by Gaddafi’s forces, the opposition Transitional National Council issued orders that casualties should no longer go to Ajdabiya Hospital and should instead be sent directly to Benghazi, the seat of the freeedom figters government around 160 kilometres to the north, the doctors said.
Some of the wounded already at the hospital were also evacuated. At least five ambulances with flashing lights and sirens blaring could be seen driving north out of Ajdabiya before noon.
Dozens of explosions from incoming artillery fire could be heard south of the town, and fighters said there were at least 100 blasts throughout the morning.
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