Rebels Briefly Lose Control of Western Libyan Town

The New York Times ^ | July 13, 2011 | C. J. CHIVERS

[MinorityRepublican]

Outside Qawalish, Libyan rebels took cover on Wednesday during a rocket attack by loyalists of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

QAWALISH, Libya — Military forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi counterattacked and briefly recaptured this front-line town from opposition forces on Wednesday, but they were beaten back by a large rebel force late in the day.

Though the battle was fluid and its outcome perhaps not final, by evening the fighting appeared to be confined to exchanges of rocket and mortar fire from a mile away or more and some skirmishing beyond the town’s eastern edge. Armed rebels roamed the abandoned town once again — but only after suffering many casualties.

The hospital in Zintan, where the rebels’ regional military command is located, said that it had treated 27 men and received eight dead fighters by nightfall, and that other wounded fighters might have been taken to one or two other hospitals in the region.

The renewed battle for Qawalish, set on a high plateau in mountainous western Libya, underscored the sense of slow progress or stalemate that has settled over what has become a midsummer desert war.

After seizing and looting Qawalish last week, the rebels maintained only a small force in the town. Their checkpoints and positions were barely dug in; their equipment was minimal, and it often appeared that few people were alert to the dangers from the Qaddafi forces just down the road.

When those forces struck back, late in the morning on Wednesday, they routed the rebels’ holding force.

[newzjunkey]

We’ve been involved in Libya for 116 days and counting.

[1066AD]

Looks like it might be longer.

Comments there also have a link to Obama's Libya a site whose veracity I don't know and neither have I clicked on any of the links.