Gaddafi loyalists launch counter-offensives on three rebel-held towns

PanARMENIAN.Net - Libyan troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi launched counter-offensives on three rebel-held towns on Sunday as the popular uprising escalated into open warfare.

The resilience of Gaddafi's forces in the face of the widespread insurrection and their ability to counter-attack will increase fears that Libya is heading for a protracted civil war rather than the swift revolutions seen in Tunisia and Egypt.

Gaddafi's troops, backed by tanks, artillery, fighter jets and helicopters attacked the towns of Zawiyah and Misrata, to the immediate west and east of Tripoli, and the oil port city of Ras Lanuf, 660 km (410 miles) east of the capital.

Government spokesmen said Gaddafi's forces won a series of swift victories, but many of the towns remained in rebel hands.

Gaddafi loyalists were nevertheless jubilant over the reports and automatic gunfire reverberated around the capital.

"These are celebrations because government forces have taken control of all areas to Benghazi and are in the process of taking control of Benghazi," spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said, referring to Libya's rebel-controlled second largest city situated in the far east.

While Benghazi remained firmly in rebel hands, government troops pushed rebels out of the town of Bin Jawad which they had captured on Saturday, back to Ras Lanuf.

One fighter returning wounded to Ras Lanuf from the frontline was asked what he had seen. He replied: "Death."

Rebels surrounded by Gaddafi troops near the centre of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, faced another onslaught on Sunday after repelling two major assaults by tanks and infantry the day before.

"This morning, there was a new attack, bigger than yesterday. There were one and a half hours of fighting ... Two people were killed from our side and many more injured," spokesman Youssef Shagan said by telephone.

"We are still in full control of the square. Now it is quiet," he added, Reuters reported.

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