@NewsInLibyaNews in Libya
Libyan rebels claim capture of gateway to Tripoli: WADI EL-HAI, Libya (#AP) — Libya's rebels claimed to have... dlvr.it/g47Vj #News
WADI EL-HAI, Libya (AP) — Libya's rebels claimed to have captured a key mountain town that is a strategic gateway on the road to Tripoli, driving out forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi on Saturday in an intensified western offensive aiming to push toward Gadhafi's stronghold in the capital. The town of Gharyan lies at the northern end of the Nafusa Mountains, and Gadhafi's hold on the town had been a sticking point for rebels who have taken control of most of the range. The town lies on the main road leading directly from Nafusa to Tripoli, 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the north on the Mediterranean coast.
Rebels have been trying for weeks to take Gharyan, and NATO airstrikes have hit Gadhafi's forces several times in the area. Gomma Ibrahim, a spokesman for rebels in the Nafusa area, said rebel fighters clashed for about four hours with the remains of regime forces in the town — mostly young fighters and mercenaries — who then withdrew. The claims could not immediately be confirmed independently. The capture solidifies the rebels' flank as they push ahead with a new offensive launched from further west in the Nafusa range, pushing down into the coastal plain where Gadhafi's forces have been concentrated. The rebels are hoping to take several cities along the coast before moving on to Tripoli. Rebel commander Fathi el-Ayeb said his fighters were 10 miles (15 kilometers) away from Gadhafi-held Zawiya, a key target in the offensive. He said the rebels scouts who returned from Zawiya claim the local residents there were waiting for the rebels to reach the city's outskirts to join their fight against Gadhafi. "They are waiting for the rebels to come and they will join them," said el-Ayeb. Dozens of Libyan families have been taking advantage of the fighting to flee from Tripoli and head into the Nafusa Mountains. The families were making their way through desert back roads that appeared to be less guarded amid the fighting between rebels and Gadhafi's forces near Bir Ghanam, 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Tripoli. The rebels said they registered 55 families that fled Tripoli in the past three days for the Nafusa mountains. Many were originally from the west but had escaped to Tripoli when the fighting broke out in the mountains months ago.
One of those on the road, Sassi Ahmed, a 47-year-old social studies teacher, said he left Tripoli with his wife and six children because the situation in the capital was "very dangerous and frightening," with no gas or electricity.
