Gaddafi forces bombard, enter strategic rebel town

AJDABIYAH: Muammar Gaddafi's artillery heavily bombarded Ajdabiyah and his forces forced their way inside on Sunday in their most determined assault on the strategic eastern town for at least a week.

Rebels cowered in alleyways from sustained artillery, rocket and small-arms fire and appeared to be losing control of the town, which is gateway to their stronghold of Benghazi 150 km(90 miles) up the Mediterranean coast to the north.

Ajdabiyah had been the launch point for insurgents during a week-long fight for the oil port of Brega further west and its fall would be a serious loss.

Rebels said Gaddafi's forces killed at least four fighters in the second day of fighting for Ajdabiyah.

"I saw the four this morning. Their throats were slit and they were all shot through the chest and dumped on the road. Their car was also riddled with bullets," said a rebel, Mohammed Saad, at a checkpoint on the eastern edge of Ajdabiyah.

Insurgent Hassan Bosayna said eight Gaddafi fighters and four rebels were killed in fighting on Saturday, with one of the rebels shot in the forehead by a sniper.

Another rebel, Muftah, said: "There are Gaddafi forces inside Ajdabiyah in sand-coloured Land Cruisers and we know there are snipers in civilian clothing in the city as well."

Gaddafi's artillery shelled the western approaches all morning and two rockets landed in the centre in the middle of the day. There were long exchanges of small arms fire.

The streets were deserted as insurgents guarded various crossroads and dashed around in pick-ups. The mostly untrained rebels have tried to reorganise and re-equip but were unable to hold ground last week against Gaddafi's better-armed forces in the fight for Brega. (Reuters)