Posted on 06/19/2011 7:37:26 AM PDT by tobyhill
The fighting in farmland west of the port city of Misrata is exposing the weakness and inexperience of rebels who are trying to advance the Libyan capital Tripoli.
The rebels are taking heavy casualties for little ground gained. And the slow slog is also testing the unity of the NATO alliance which supports them from the air.
Eight more rebels had died by early Sunday afternoon in heavy artillery barrages, bringing the toll in just over a week to more than 40.
About 200 have been wounded -- a huge loss in manpower for a rebel force that has already expended so much to break out of Misrata, scene of some of the bloodiest fighting in Libya's four-month-old uprising.
Tactical missteps appear to be rife as rebels run into the heavy guns of forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on the outskirts of Zlitan, the immediate target of fighters trying to push 200 km (125 miles) from Misrata to Tripoli.
As ambulances and pick-ups rushed the wounded to a field hospital near Misrata's western front on Sunday, senior rebel Mohammed Ali pulled in from the front.
"We made a mistake today," he said. "We sent the boys out on foot before the vehicles."
Two days earlier, he railed against other units who, he said, had opened fire too early and alerted pro-Gaddafi forces to an offensive through olive groves some 10 km short of Zlitan.
(Excerpt) Read more at af.reuters.com ...
Mohammed Ali?
Maybe you should float like a butterfly and sting like a bee?
One: 40 dead in a week of heavy fighting is considered high casualities by Reuters?!?
Two: This level of incompetence probably makes the Libyan rebels one of the better Arab fighting forces. For they actually fight. The rest of the Arab world prefers to attack unarmed women and children... and flees when confronted with armed soldiers.
I’ll say! They can’t even stay out of the way of NATO bombs. Thanks tobyhill.
Rebel farces blew up 5 tanks, out of those 2 were of enemies.
Deeeeveloping...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.