Muammar Gaddafi's forces launched an early morning counterattack against rebel-held Berga on Wednesday, March 2nd, with lethal air power and weaponry at their disposal, initially taking control of the town before rebels as far away as Benghazi rallied to come to Brega's aid.

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Excerpt from Al Jazeera:

In the distance and high above, a Libyan air force jet circled over the town of Brega, a key oil port in eastern Libya around 330km from Sirte, one of Muammar Gaddafi's last remaining strongholds.

As scores of rebel fighters armed with AK-47 assault rifles, shotguns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers watched from their staging point on the main road into town, the jet dipped and dropped its ordinance. A plume of smoke rose from Brega, and the sound of the explosion washed over the assembled crowd.

Somewhere near the town, anti-aircraft guns opened fire. The jet ascended and disappeared into the glare of the sun. A minute later, it reappeared and descended rapidly, coming straight for the road. It swooped low and sped overhead; a moment after it passed, an explosion erupted from the desert 80 metres away, shooting black smoke and sand into the air and scattering the rebels in different directions down the road.

It was a rare event: a Libyan military airstrike witnessed directly by foreign journalists. Thankfully, there were no casualties, but a coordinated raid on Brega on Wednesday that witnesses said involved at least six jeeps and heavily armed troops left at least five civilians dead -- one of them 12-years-old -- and injured at least 21 more. It illustrated how the conflict between Gaddafi loyalists and opponents that began with street protests has quickly become something that looks more like an armed rebellion.

Little training

Early on Wednesday morning, reports of an attack on Brega reached Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city and the heart of the uprising. Gaddafi forces had retaken the town, airport, and refinery and petrochemical plant, witnesses said. 

The claim seemed plausible: during a visit to Brega and nearby Ajdabiya on Monday, Al Jazeera found the oil-rich front lines of the rebellion lightly defended by irregular fighters, ill-equipped and undisciplined, more prone to firing their weapons in the air than setting up defences.

The number of Gaddafi troops was unclear, but they reportedly arrived before dawn and easily pushed the rebel troops back with fire from assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and air support.

At the main checkpoint outside Ajdabiya, close to Brega and around 160km south of Benghazi, hundreds of opposition fighters had heeded the call to come to Brega's aid. Civilian cars filled the desert around the checkpoint; their occupants milled around the main road, cheering as armed rebels drove by in vans and pick-up trucks.

The anti-government forces largely had little
military training and no clear leadership

(FULL STORY CONTINUED HERE ON AL JAZEERA)

Submitter: Mac McKinney

Submitters Bio:
I am a student of history, religion, exoteric and esoteric, the Humanities in general and a tempered advocate for the ultimate manifestation of peace, justice and the unity of humankind through self-realization and mutual respect, although I am not a pacifist, nor do I believe in peace at any price, which is no peace at all but only delays inevitable conflict. There are times when the world must act. Planetary consciousness is evolving, but there are many retrograde forces that would drag us back down.

I have also written one book, a combination of poetry, photography and essays entitled "Post Katrina Blues", my reflections on the Gulf Coast and New Orleans two years after Katrina struck. Go to the store at http://sanfranciscobaypress.com/ to purchase. And I also have a blog called Plutonian Mac.