Libyan rebels retreat, forge new plan
After their lightning advance, rebel forces have been stopped and pushed back from the city of Sirt. Reports say they might use the home town of Gaddafi as a springboard for their march on Tripoli, or bypass it.
Three explosions could be heard in Tripoli on Tuesday. There are reports that the international coalition shelled military and civilian targets in Tripoli, in Misurata and Zaltan to the east of the capital, and in Mizda to the south.
On Tuesday, under the heavy fire of Gaddafi`s artillery, rebels were forced to retreat to the city of Ben-Jawad, some 150km away from Sirt. The rebels are now considering going around the city, if they cannot break through Gaddafi`s defense. They say they may head for the city of Misurata, the last and only rebel stronghold in the western part of Libya.
Meanwhile, the US deployed propaganda planes over Libya calling on forces loyal to Gaddafi to turn against the Libyan leader.
And in Misurata, a humanitarian crisis is taking place. Over 4,000 Egyptians and people from other countries in the region are housed there in tents, with eight of them already confirmed to have died from starvation.
There are reports from doctors in Sirt who say they are treating hundreds of patients wounded and crippled by the recent air strikes. They also say it is impossible to determine how many people have been killed, as many have died on the sides of the roads and have been just buried there.
There has been another night of air strikes in Libya and a number of military targets have been hit, along with reports that some civilian areas have been struck.
As rebels seem to be able to make good on their promise to enter Tripoli, local residents feel themselves under threat of siege and there is a growing fear that there could be an impending blood bath in the capital city, reports RT?s Paula Slier from Tripoli.
Within two days Tripoli could run out of fuel, and large queues of people are already gathering outside bakeries and other food stores.
The defense officials admit that the number of air strikes has increased in recent days and pointed out that, despite all the reconnaissance, more and more of these strikes are happening in urban areas, increasing the number of civilian casualties.
On Monday the Pentagon admitted they were using AC-130 and AC-10, which can hardly be called high-accuracy planes for hitting military targets, Lieutenant General Leonid Sazhin told Itar-Tass news agency.
"These are fighter aircraft designed for hitting personnel targets and destroying military weaponry on the ground," he said. "Apparently the use of AC-130 and AC-10 planes might have helped the rebels to advance in several directions. The application of these planes literally means that Americans are helping the rebels on the land front."
ґAnd political observer Christoph Hoerstel says NATO is using depleted uranium ammunition in bombs and missiles for its attacks on Libya.
"We have news reports on this, we know that the US and other countries, for example the UK are using these weapons constantly - it`s their unfortunately dirty habit - they have used them in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan and there?s no exception in Libya" says Hoerstel. "It?s not always depleted uranium, it?s enriched uranium as well - that?s the situation. We have to be clear - there?s no question of that. And now we have to see the implications for the mandate of the United Nations"
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