Rebel Advance on Sirte Resumes as British Jets Hit S. Libya

A rebel advance westwards towards Tripoli, which was halted Monday by Moammer Gadhafi's troops about 140 kilometers east of the strongman's hometown Sirte, resumed later in the day, an Agence France Presse reporter said.

After their rapid progress on Sunday, helped by the overnight coalition air raids, Monday proved something of a sticking point and by mid-afternoon they had pushed forward just 40 kilometers from Bin Jawad to the small town of Ras Al Awaja, on the road to Sirte, the Libyan strongman's home town.

The rebels on Sunday seized Bin Jawad after retaking the key oil town of Ras Lanuf as they advanced with the support of coalition air strikes on Gadhafi's forces.

But on Monday they came under heavy machine-gun fire from regime loyalists in pick-up trucks on the road from Bin Jawad to Nofilia.

The insurgents pulled back into Bin Jawad and opened up with heavy artillery.

A salvo of shells from Gadhafi's forces slammed into sand dunes near Bin Jawad and a rebel fighter fell, hit in the leg.

Pick-ups flying the green flag of Tripoli and mounted with heavy machine guns opened up on the rebels who replied with "Stalin organ" multiple rocket launchers and cannon fire.

A 10-minute incoming artillery barrage panicked the thousand or so rebels along the road outside Bin Jawad, sending them fleeing in disorder.

Had Gadhafi's guns hit the road proper, there would have been a massacre among the insurgents, some of whom were armed with only shotguns.

"It won't be as easy as we thought to take Sirte and then march on Tripoli," said 20-year-old rebel fighter Ahmad al-Badri, wearing incomplete battledress and clutching an old Kalashnikov.

Instead of a flak jacket, he wore a highly visible orange life jacket.

"But we won't stop -- we'll advance. They can't hold us up for long," Badri added.

All of the rebels who spoke to AFP seemed confident that coalition warplanes would reopen the road to Sirte for them, but none had heard of NATO's decision to strike only when civilians were threatened by Gadhafi's army.

But the advance continued cautiously later in the day as they searched houses along the road and appeared to encounter increasingly less resistance from the pro-Gadhafi forces.

Early Monday British jets bombed ammunition bunkers in southern Libya after weekend strikes took out a score of tanks and armored vehicles near the towns of Ajdabiya and Misrata, officials said.

Tornado GR4s flying from Britain and refueled mid-air conducted strike missions against ammunition bunkers in Gadhafi's southern stronghold of Sebha, the Ministry of Defense said.

"Storm Shadow missiles were launched against ammunition bunkers used to re-supply Libyan government troops attacking civilians in the north of the country, including Misrata," it said in a statement.

"Initial reports suggest that the bunkers have been destroyed and that the Libyan government has been denied ammunition it uses to threaten civilians in the north of the country."

Over the weekend, Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado jets had fired on numerous targets around the key eastern city of Ajdabiya, which rebels seized from Gadhafi's forces on Saturday.

The planes also attacked targets near the disputed port city of Misrata in the west and were continuing to patrol the area on Monday, the ministry said.

"Ordnance released hit a total of 22 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery pieces in the vicinity of Ajdabiya and Misrata," the statement said.

It added: "Following the retreat of Colonel Gadhafi's forces from most of the coastal towns east of Sirte, RAF Tornados have joined other coalition aircraft patrolling over Misrata where, despite significant losses as a result of air strikes, the regime continues to mount attacks on the town."

Britain is part of an international coalition taking action to enforce a United Nations-sanctioned ceasefire and no-fly zone to protect civilians in Libya.

Foreign ministers from at least 35 countries are due to meet in London on Tuesday to discuss the operation, which has passed under NATO control.