What on Earth is happening in Brega? A short explanation 20/07/2011 #libya
by Change In Libya on Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 6:48pm
Brega has been a source of confusion ever since freedom fighters declared Ajdabiya a stronghold and fortified the town back in March. We used to hear stories about NATO apaches targeting Gaddafi brigades in the town, stories about the town being a huge prison for these brigades, and, since friday, stories about the town being completely liberated. According to different sources, the bulk of freedom fighter equipment is more or less at the 60km point from Ajdabiya (that means, 60kms from Ajdabiya, on the highway to Brega - see the diagram below). Freedom fighters advanced 4 or 5 kilometres from the 60km line since Friday, so keep that in mind.
(Seems like you can't enlarge the pictures... here's a google maps link... try to follow what I'm saying on the map itself - http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=30.286346,19.515152&spn=0.576917,1.056747&t=h&z=11 )
See that red line? That's where the bulk of the FF tanks, artillery and forces are. They are just outside Brega and as the red arrow tells us, they are also surrounding the town from the southern end (it's also worth noting that everywhere south of Brega is under freedom fighter control, including the all important oil facilities and oil fields in the desert south of the town). The town is currently occupied by ONE brigade belonging to the Gaddafi army - the rest of the force that used to be in Brega has withdrawn to Bishr (see diagram below) according to radio calls that were intercepted by FF teams
Bottom line is: Brega isn't fully liberated. The important refinery is still under Gaddafi control. So is the airport. The city is also heavily mined - Freedom fighters say that they removed over a thousand mines so far, and that 3 Gaddafi engineers they captured tell them that there are over 40,000 mines in Brega alone...
It's a daunting task, but Brega's liberation is only a matter of time. I hope the language is clear enough. If not, ask me and I'll try to explain :) I'm suffering from lack of sleep and it's almost 1 am here... CIL Update: Can you see the "New brega" area just before the 60km point in the map above? That's another source of confusion. That is known as the industrial town, or the 3rd district of Brega (from what I've been told). This has been under FF control since Saturday or so it seems and it must have added to the confusion, because technically it is part of Brega and FF now control it. Some stations might have reported that as "FF control Brega" but as you can tell, it's not entirely true. Still though, it's a significant thing. Share
