Libyan opposition retakes border post

Press TV, Thu Apr 28, 2011, 10:18PM

  Libyan revolutionary forces have recaptured a post at Dhehaiba on the country's border with Tunisia after fierce fighting with forces loyal to long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

The anti-Gaddafi fighters retook the Dhehaiba-Wazin border crossing, The Associated Press reported.

Eight Gaddafi soldiers were reportedly killed in the clashes between the two sides on Thursday.

Hours earlier, regime troops had taken control of the border post, forcing revolutionaries to flee into Tunisian territory. Tunisian forces have arrested both revolutionary and pro-Gaddafi forces who had entered their territory during the fighting.

Tunisia has reportedly sent ambulances into Libya to evacuate the wounded. Five pro-government soldiers have been taken to a hospital in the city of Tataouine in Tunisia.

"The situation is very confused, and there is fighting on both sides of the border," one military official told AFP.

Since April 21, thousands of Libyans have fled to Tunisia via the Dhehaiba crossing when revolutionary forces first captured the post. Within the last 48 hours, more than 5,000 Libyans have reportedly fled.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi forces have captured the southeastern city of al-Kufrah, while fighting rages on in the eastern city of Ajdabiyah. Revolutionaries have repeatedly struggled with pro-government forces for control of Ajdabiyah since the war in Libya began in mid-February.

On Wednesday, a NATO airstrike killed at least twelve revolutionary forces in the eastern city of Misratah, according to witnesses, although NATO has denied the attack.

LF/MGH

Libyan rebels retake Dhehaiba terminal

TRIPOLI, April 28, 2011 (Xinhua) --

Libyan rebels retook the Dhehaiba- Wazin crossing Thursday after violent fighting with forces of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, said Al-Jazeera in a newsflash.

Hours earlier, pro-Gaddafi forces took control of the terminal, forcing rebels to retreat to the Tunisian city of Dhehaiba.

Libyan rebels recapture border post

AFP, April 28, 2011, 4:00 pm ET

Rebels and forces loyal to Mu'ammer Qadhafi battled Thursday over control of a key border post, fighting on both sides of the Libya-Tunisia frontier, sources said.

Rebels recaptured the Dhehaiba border post after heavy fighting killed eight soldiers of forces loyal to Qadhafi, just hours after the strongman's troops took control of the crossing.

On the Libyan side of the border, the rival camps exchanged artillery fire in the early evening, causing panic among civilians, a witness told AFP.

Several ambulances came from Tunisia into Libya to evacuate the wounded.

According to a security source, five pro-Qadhafi fighters were wounded in the clashes and taken to a hospital in Tataouine in Tunisia.

A senior Tunisian military officer described the situation as "extremely tense".

Earlier in the day, Qadhafi's fighters had for a few hours taken control of Dhehaiba which rebels seized a week ago, causing the insurgents to flee into Tunisia pursued by their enemies for about one kilometre (half a mile).

Some of them managed to return to Libya while others, as well as Libyan soldiers, were arrested by Tunisian forces, said a witness on the border who asked not to be named.

"The situation is very confused, and there is fighting on both sides of the border" at Dhehaiba, a military official told AFP.

A witness said Tunisian troops had arrested fighters on both sides of the conflict, but this could not be confirmed independently or by Tunisian officials.

The insurgents' success in capturing Dhehaiba April 21 resulted in thousands of Libyans crossing the border into Tunisia in anticipation of a counter attack as forces loyal to Qadhafi started amassing in the area.

Fighting between rebels and Qadhafi loyalists intensified in the west of the country in the last week.

Sources said the rebels also managed to retake Wazin, the first Libyan village after crossing the border at Dhehaiba from Tunisia, with about 5,000 inhabitants.

The rebels also control Nalout, the last big town before the Dhehaiba crossing as well as the highway leading to the town of Zintan, nearly 200 kilometers (around 120 miles) east.

Qadhafi troops fired rockets on Zintan on Sunday evening, killing four and wounding nine, according to residents.

On Wednesday, thousands of insurgents defending the city managed to drive Qadhafi's forces back several kilometres after a day of fighting and bombardments.

Massive protests in February -- inspired by the revolts that toppled long-time autocrats in Egypt and Tunisia -- escalated into war when Qadhafi's troops fired on demonstrators and protesters seized several eastern towns.

The mountainous area of Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, was one of the first to rise up against Qadhafi's regime.

Rebel reinforcements were on Thursday reported to be moving towards Kabao and Nalout in anticipation of new attacks.

Foreign military officials, meanwhile, said the Tunisian army was sending reinforcements to Dhehaiba, with members of the national guard and armoured vehicles converging in the area on Thursday afternoon.

France uses unexplosive bombs in Libya: spokesman

PARIS, April 28, 2011 (Xinhua) --

France has started this week to use unexplosive bombs to strike targets on the ground in Libya in the hope to reduce unnecessary damage to nearby civil infrastructures and civilians, the military's spokesman Thierry Burkhard said on Thursday.

At a press conference, Burkhard said the unexplosive bombs, around 300 kilograms and stuffed with concrete mass instead of explosives, have been adopted since Tuesday to hit vehicles of Libya force loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

The purpose to use concrete bombs was to increase accuracy of each strike and reduce unnecessary damage, he said, denying that the air operation in Libya by the foreign coalition was running short of aircraft or munitions.

Some early report said Britain, France and other European countries were running low on stocks of laser-guided bombs, but several officials of NATO and allied countries since last week have stood out to deny bomb shortage in the Libya operation.

Editor: Mu Xuequan