[Arab News] Al Jizz news network said Qadaffy forces were trying to seize the western rebel-held town of Zintan near the Tunisian border in an attack using heavy weapons. Residents had already decamped the town center to seek shelter in mountain caves.Rebels in east Libya were positioned just outside Ajdabiyah on Tuesday, making no further advance on the strategic town despite a third night of Western air strikes on the north African oil-producing state.
At the frontline in the desert scrub about 5 km (3 miles) outside the town located at the gateway to the rebel-held east, rebels said air strikes were helping cripple Qadaffy's heavy armor. But there was no sign of a swift drive forward.
When asked why rebel units had not advanced toward their objective, which is the eventual taking of Tripoli, Ahmed Al-Aroufi, a rebel fighter at the frontline, told Rooters: "Qadaffy has tanks and trucks with missiles."
Commenting on the air campaign to protect civilians in this uprising against Qadaffy's 41-year rule, Aroufi said:
"We don't depend on anyone but God, not La Belle France or America. We started this revolution without them through the sweat of our own brow, and that is how we will finish it."
Echoing rebel opposition to any intervention by foreign ground forces, he said: "We need the no-fly zone for them to strike the heavy armor. But if they bring land forces we will leave Qadaffy alone and they will be our new target."
Washington, wary of being drawn into another war after long campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, has ruled out specific action to overthrow Qadaffy, though La Belle France said on Monday it hoped the Libyan government would collapse from within.
Obama did not spell out which nation or organization would take charge of the campaign, but Britain and La Belle France took a lead role in pushing for air strikes in Libya which have already destroyed much of its air defenses.