Gaddafi strikes at key city

A strategic rebel-held Libyan city has been bombed by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces as they try to push ahead with an offensive into the east.

Planes struck at weapons depots in the city of Ajdabiya today, trying to cut off supplies to fighters at the front nearby.

Ajdabiya lies just east of the oil port of Brega, where rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces were locked in fierce battles yesterday. Rebels said they were still in control of the port.

Gaddafi’s forces are trying to take back the opposition-held eastern half of Libya.

Gaddafi's troops have been emboldened by some victories as they try to push east along Libya's main Mediterranean coastal road. But their supply lines are stretched and their dependence on artillery, airstrikes and naval attacks makes it hard for them to swiftly consolidate control of territory, particularly at night.

For the past week, the two sides have been battling for control over Brega and Ras Lanouf – which Gaddafi’s forces captured days ago.

But even if government troops take Brega as well, they may face even tougher resistance if they try to move further east, on the heavily populated cities that the opposition holds. The first of those cities is Ajdabiya.

The regime forces’ most effective weapon so far appears to have been use of overwhelming bombardment – mainly by artillery, tanks and rockets, as well as with planes, hitting the poorly organised rebels trying to move in a desert region with little cover.

The opposition has been pleading with the West to impose a no-fly zone to remove at least part of that threat and help even the odds. But for weeks, Western nations have been divided and hesitant on the move.

France and Britain were making an accelerated push today for a no-fly zone as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other top diplomats from the G-8 group of prominent world economies were gathering in Paris for a previously planned foreign ministers meeting.

France, which has angered some allies by offering diplomatic recognition to Libya’s opposition, said it is urgent to act against “barbarity” by Gaddafi’s forces.