AJDABIYAH, Libya, (Reuters) – Libyan rebels scrambled to defend their eastern frontline outpost of Ajdabiyah yesterday after fighting on the coastal highway towards the oil port of Brega occupied by Muammar Gaddafi’s troops.
One witness said he saw around a dozen rockets land near the western entrance to town, which rebels wanted to use as a staging post to retake the oil port of Brega. Many fled as loud explosions boomed across the town.
“There are still some guys out there at the western gate but the situation isn’t very good,” said Wassim el-Agouri, a 25-year-old rebel volunteer waiting at Ajdabiyah’s eastern gate.
“We want weapons, modern weapons,” said rebel Ayman Aswey, 21. “If we had those, we could advance against them.”
Ajdabiyah’s streets were almost deserted by mid-afternoon and rebels barricaded the roads with concrete blocks, tree branches and anything they could find for fear of an attack.
Rebel pick-ups patrolled the streets and men took up positions across the town with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Others returned to positions at the western gate with their weapons pointed west and south into the desert. “We are ready for a street war. We are prepared. We have got dynamite and we’ve got grenades,” said rebel fighter Emtar el-Farjany, who was holding a stick of dynamite.
Some rebels on Saturday made it into the outskirts of Brega, 50 miles (80 km) to the west, but many others retreated to Ajdabiyah after six were killed by rockets fired by Gaddafi loyalists on the exposed coastal road joining the two towns.
Yesterday, scores of volunteer fighters and civilian cars carrying men, women and children streamed east from Ajdabiyah up the coast road towards Benghazi, where the popular revolt against Gaddafi’s 41-year rule began on Feb. 17.