Libyan rebel fighters recaptured Ajdabiyah this morning after an all-night battle, but Muammar Gadafy’s forces were still at the strategic eastern town's western gate, witnesses and rebels said.
This morning the debris of the battle was scattered around the eastern gate. Four destroyed Gadafy tanks, ammunition boxes, and empty shell cases and boxes were scattered over the sand dunes.
In the town centre, deserted except for a few residents emerging from their houses, rebel fighters were racing around in pick-up trucks firing into the air in celebration but there was no sound of fighting.
Ajdabiya’s sudden fall to Col Gadafy’s troops spurred the swift UN resolution authorising international action in Libya, and its return to rebel hands came
after a week of airstrikes and missiles against the Libyan leader’s military.
On the road into the city today, at least eight blackened Gadafy tanks lay on the ground.
Despite the air strikes and today's turnaround in Ajdabiya, forces loyal to Gadafy remain a real threat to civilians, according to Pentagon officials in the US, who are considering expanding the firepower and airborne surveillance systems in the military campaign.
Giving his weekly radio address after the rebels regained control of the city, President Barack Obama said: "Every day, the pressure on Gadafy and his regime is increasing."
The UN Security Council authorised the operation to protect Libyan civilians after Gadafy launched attacks against anti-government protesters who demanded that he step down after 42 years in power.
The airstrikes have sapped the strength of the regime’s forces, but rebel advances have also foundered, and the two sides have been at stalemate in key cities.
Earlier yesterday, British and French warplanes hit near Ajdabiya, destroying an artillery battery and armoured vehicles.
Ajdabiya, the gateway to the opposition’s eastern stronghold, and the western city of Misrata have especially suffered because the rebels lack the heavy weapons to lift the siege.
Today, rebels in Ajdabiya hauled away a captured rocket launcher, adding to their limited firepower.
On Friday, the US commander in charge of the overall international mission, Army General Carter Ham, said, “We could easily destroy all the regime forces that are in Ajdabiya,” but the city itself would be destroyed in the process. We’d be killing the very people that we’re charged with protecting.”
Instead, the focus was on disrupting the communications and supply lines that allow Gaddafi’s forces to keep fighting in Ajdabiya and other urban areas like Misrata, Gen Ham said in a telephone interview from his US Africa Command headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.
The turnaround in Ajdabiya is a boost for US President Barack Obama, who has faced complaints from politicians from both parties that he has not sought their input about the US role in the war or explained with enough clarity about the US goals and exit strategy. Mr Obama is expected to give a speech to the nation on Monday.