Gaddafi tanks, jets strike deeper into rebel heartland

[Turborama]

Source: Reuters

By Mohammed Abbas and Alexander Dziadosz – 2 hrs 49 mins ago

RAS LANUF, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan tanks fired on rebel positions around the oil port of Ras Lanuf and warplanes hit another oil hub further east Thursday as Muammar Gaddafi carried counter-attacks deeper into the insurgent heartland.

In the west, Gaddafi's army laid siege to try to starve out insurgents clinging to parts of the shattered city of Zawiyah, strategically significant because it is close to his powerbase in the capital Tripoli, after fierce see-saw battles this week.

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More than 500 km (300 miles) east of Tripoli, Gaddafi's warplanes and gunboats off the Mediterranean coast bombarded rebels around Ras Lanuf, with projectiles crashing close to a building of the Libyan Emirates Oil Refinery Company.

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Two rebel fighters said they saw Ras Lanuf's residential area, including the vicinity of its hospital, get bombed and that government forces had fired rockets from sea, air and ground. There was no apparent damage to the hospital.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110310/wl_nm/us_libya

[Turborama]

1. BBC: Gaddafi loyalists mount onslaught

March 11 2011 Last updated at 02:46 GMT

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi have made major gains against anti-government rebels, pushing them from two key areas.

Western journalists in the city of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, confirmed the Gaddafi regime's claims that the city had fallen after days of bombardment.

And rebels have fled from the oil port of Ras Lanuf in the east.

Col Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam warned the rebel stronghold of Benghazi that government troops were on their way.

More details plus footage of rebels on the road between Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12708687