Thousands flee rebel stronghold as Gaddafi forces flout ceasefire

Al-Marj, Libya, Saturday

Fighting raged around Libya’s rebel stronghold of Benghazi today, with air strikes, tank fire and shelling rocking the Mediterranean city as a rebel warplane went down in flames.

Thousands of people were seen fleeing eastward as correspondents reported heavy fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi in the west of the city of more than one million people.

Tank fire was also heard from the south of Benghazi as rebel fighters ran through the streets flashing V for victory signs and crying “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is greatest”.

The southern edge of Benghazi early morning suffered at least two air strikes and sustained shelling, sending thick smoke into the sky, an AFP reporter said.

The warplane, which had been heard flying over the city for several minutes was suddenly spotted with flames coming from the fuselage before it fell on a residential area south of the city.

Pilot ejecting

The pilot could be seen ejecting as the plane spiralled down.

However, a rebel official reached by telephone acknowledged the plane was one of their fighter jets and that it had been downed by loyalists.

“Yes, it was one of the insurgents’ planes. It was downed by Gaddafi’s forces,” the official told AFP.

A number of military units defected to the rebellion soon after the revolt broke out.

The two air strikes occurred within 20 minutes of each other, but the planes responsible could not be immediately identified.

A series of small explosions, possibly from Katyusha rockets, also produced at least seven smaller columns of black smoke south of the city.

Rebel sources said Gaddafi artillery and tanks shelled the western suburbs from positions outside the city. Some of the shells hit central Benghazi, mainly in Jamal Abdelnasser Street.

A rebel official told AFP by telephone that Gaddafi militiamen who had been hiding out in Benghazi turned up in a neighbourhood called Foweihat, about five kilometres from the city centre “driving a car and shooting at people randomly and throwing hand grenades.”

“Heavy exchanges of fire erupted between them and the revolutionaries” the rebel official said.

A resident of Benghazi, who asked not to be identified and was reached by telephone, told AFP “the western suburbs of Benghazi were shelled randomly by the Gaddafi forces.”

However, he denied reports that Gaddafi’s tanks had entered the city.

“No tanks are in the centre of Benghazi apart from some insurgents’ tanks, but men from the Gaddafi militias can be seen in some areas,” he said.

The fighting sparked an immediate exodus. Heavy traffic clogged the road eastward, although rebel checkpoints were still manned and fighters screamed defiance against Gaddafi.

At Al-Marj, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Benghazi on the road to Tobruk and the Egyptian border, residents handed out bags of dates and cartons of milk to the refugees, while queues built up at bakeries and other outlets.

For its part, the government said its armed forces were under attack west of Benghazi and had responded in self-defence.

“The gangs of Al-Qaeda attacked the units of the Libyan armed forces stationed to the west of Benghazi,” a statement carried by the official Jana news agency said, using Tripoli’s term for the insurgents.

The statement accused the rebels of using “a helicopter and a fighter jet to bomb the Libyan armed forces in blatant violation of the no-fly zone imposed by the UN Security Council.”

France was hosting Saturday what it said would be a “decisive” summit with the European Union, Arab League and African Union, as well as UN chief Ban Ki-moon, on taking UN-sanctioned military action in Libya.

France’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gerard Araud, said he expected military intervention within hours of the summit.

Libyan government officials insisted Tripoli was abiding by a ceasefire it declared on Friday. (AFP)