Libyan rebels rejoice in Ajdabiya as air strikes drive Gaddafi loyalists out
Fall of Ajdabiya is first significant victory for rebels since coalition strikes began a week ago
Khalif Ameen leaped on the blackened tank, its innards hollowed out by the blast of a missile from an unseen plane, and waved his Kalashnikov as he declared the war all but won. "Now Gaddafi is finished. We have won Ajdabiya. We will not stop. Next Brega, Ras Lanuf, Sirte, Tripoli. Gaddafi will go quick," said the young man who a few weeks ago was an engineering student.
But the burned-out remnants of the Libyan dictator's armour abandoned on the outskirts of Ajdabiya after the strategic town finally fell to rebel forces told a different story that does not bode well for Ameen's dream of marching all the way to Tripoli.
The fall of Ajdabiya after days of artillery duels and air bombardment delivered the Libyan revolutionaries their first significant victory overMuammar Gaddafi's forces since the coalition air strikes began a week ago. The Libyan army sat outside town, astride the main coastal highway, blocking the rebels' attempts to advance west toward the capital and recapture territory lost as Gaddafi found his footing after the initial shock of the uprising.
