Egypt.com Sunday 17 July 2011 : 02:00 PMLibyan State television reported that “the colonialist crusader aggressor” had raided civilian and military sites in the Ain Zara district and in Tajoura in the eastern suburbs. At least 13 explosions were heard before and just after 1 am (2300 GMT Saturday). An AFP journalist was unable to say immediately what the targets had been.
The blasts came just hours after Gaddafi had insisted in a defiant speech that he would never quit his homeland. “They are asking me to leave. That’s a laugh. I will never leave the land of my ancestors or the people who have sacrificed themselves for me,” he said in a loudspeaker address to supporters in Zawiyah, west of the capital.
“These rats have taken our people hostage in Benghazi, Misrata and the western mountains, using them as human shields,” “Five million armed Libyans will march on them and liberate the occupied towns as soon as the order is given.”
Libya’s rebels on Saturday suffered their bloodiest day yet in the offensive to wrest control of Brega from Gaddafi’s troops, as medics said the death toll had risen to at least 12.
Nine people were killed on Saturday and 79 wounded as loyalist landmines began to vie with Grad rockets to ramp up the casualties, according to a list from the hospital in nearby Ajdabiya.
Rebels said their steady advance on the key refinery town was slowed by the discovery of defensive trenches that had been filled with flammable chemicals by the retreating loyalist forces.
After a small rebel reconnaissance unit punched through into Brega late on Friday before falling back, a rebel commander said troops were now moving “slowly but surely” towards it from east, north and south.
It was not clear what kind of chemicals were being used, but Brega is home to a large petrochemical facility that produces a range of oil by-products.
The rebels’ senior commander for the region, Mokhtar Farnana, said they were consolidating their grip on the territory they already held for fear of loyalist counter-attack.
“The most important thing is to keep hold of the territory we have captured and to make it safe before making further attacks,” Farnana told AFP.
“We will not allow Gaddafi’s forces to retake places we have captured.”