Berber Rebels in Libya, Colonel Qaddafi, he warned, “will kill us all.” April 24, 2011
The town of Yafren, about 100 miles east of Nalut, was reported to have been captured by government forces over the weekend. But by then the town was all but deserted. Just a handful of rebel fighters and elderly residents, too weak to flee, were thought to remain, hiding in basements.
The government forces have been ordered to “clean” Zintan, he said, and he had little doubt about their ability to do so. Without heavier NATO airstrikes against Colonel Qaddafi’s armor and more weapons, he said, it will be “90 percent impossible” for the rebels to hold their ground in the western mountains. Colonel Qaddafi, he warned, “will kill us all.” Other fighters were less bleak. Puffing on the stub of a cigarette at the Tunisian border, a tall, bearded fighter named Toufik guessed that the rebels in the region were outnumbered by loyalist troops five to one. Asked how they had succeeded in capturing the border post last week, he grinned and pointed an index finger to the sky. “God gave us a victory,” he said.
