Rebels in Libya's Western Mountains launched an offensive today against Muammar Gadafy's troops, one day after Britain granted diplomatic recognition to the opposition.
With prospects of a negotiated settlement fading, both sides appear to be preparing for the five-month-old war to grind on into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in August.
"We have started attacking Ghezaia with rockets and tanks," rebel spokesman Mohammed Maylud said.
Ghezaia is a town near the Tunisian border which has been in government hands since the conflict began.
At a checkpoint outside the nearby rebel-held town of Nalut, they sounded optimistic as the fighting began.
"We are confident we can beat Gadafy now, we have captured more weapons from the Libyan army, mostly AK-47s," said Mohammed Ahmed (20) a market trader turned fighter.
Basim Ahmed, a fighter coming back from the front, said rebels had taken control of parts of three villages and many government troops had fled, but this was not possible to verify.
As sustained bombardments could be heard in the distance, an ambulance raced to Nalut hospital. A rebel with a gunshot wound to the shoulder was brought into the emergency room, where he lay semi-conscious.
Minutes later a commotion could be heard in the parking lot. A government soldier who had been captured was led to a hospital bed a few feet away from the rebel. He was missing a hand and was barefoot.
The soldier, who gave his name as Hassan, said that the army was losing the will to fight.
"We don't want to keep fighting. Everybody is against us." he said, speaking from his hospital cot.
Blood seeped through the bandage bound around the stump of his missing hand but a rebel nonetheless tried to interrogate him, asking him his unit and where he was from.
Eight wounded combatants lay in the hospital in total -- four rebels and four Col Gadafy soldiers. Six other Col Gadafy soldiers had been taken prisoner, witnesses said.
Rebels have taken large swathes of Libya since rising up to end Col Gadafy's 41-year rule.
They hold much of the Western Mountains range, northeast Libya including their stronghold Benghazi, and the western city of Misrata.
Yet they remain poorly armed and are often disorganised. Despite the backing of Nato air strikes, they have failed to reach the capital Tripoli and appear unlikely to do so soon.
Ghezaia is of local strategic importance, a base from which government troops attack rebels in the mountains, but if it fell this would not bring the opposition nearer to Tripoli.
Col Gadafy has scoffed at the rebels' efforts to end his rule and has weathered a rebel advance and Nato air raids on his forces and military infrastructure.
A recent flurry of diplomatic activity has yielded little, with the rebels insisting Col Gadafy step down as a first step and his government saying his role is non-negotiable.
United Nations envoy Abdel Elah al-Khatib visited both sides this week with plans for a ceasefire and a power-sharing government that excludes Col Gadafy, but won no visible result.
Asked about Mr Khatib's proposal, rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said: "We were surprised the day before yesterday that we are taking 10 steps back... and he says to share power with Muammar Gadafy's regime. This is laughable."
Col Gadafy also appeared defiant yesterday, urging rebels to lay down their arms or suffer an ugly death.
"We all lead this battle, until victory, until martyrdom," he said in a message aired at a pro-Gadafy rally in Zaltan, 140km west of the capital Tripoli.
Reuters