Libyan opposition fighters in retreat

Brega, the scene of a fierce battle just over a week ago, was the latest town recaptured by Libyan government forces on Saturday, as rebel fighters retreated in the face of intense air and ground firepower.

Al Jazeera's Nick Clark, reporting from the town of Tobruk, said that Gaddafi's forces “are now in a good position to take on Benghazi,” Libya's second largest city and a rebel stronghold.

Diplomatic pressure is having little impact on the fighting, as forces loyal to the Libyan leader continue to push eastward into territory held by the opposition fighters.

Gaddafi's forces, with air supremacy and a big advantage in tanks, are maintaining the momentum on the ground.

But while his forces were advancing eastward, Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reported from Benghazi that they were facing resistance from the opposition fighters and that their progress had been slowed.

Gaddafi's forces have not used the full clout of their superior airpower, raising fears in the Benghazi of an aerial attack.

“When all that is employed, as the full might of his force is unleashed, there’s concern here,” Birtley reported.

'Global inaction'

There were conflicting reports on which side controls Ras Lanuf, the main oil port town, where the opposition's advance stalled on Thursday.

“We're hearing the opposition forces are back in control of Ras Lanuf at the moment, although during the day, Gaddafi forces came back in,” Clark said.

Neither side had full control on Saturday, as fighting continued. Gaddafi's warplanes were carrying out air strikes seemingly unhindered by rebel anti-aircraft guns mounted on pick-up trucks.

Many opposition fighters were angry at what they perceive as international inaction.

“Where is the West? How are they helping? What are they doing,” shouted one fighter.

The resurgent Gaddafi forces have already crushed the revolt in Zawiyah, a town 50km west of Tripoli and held by opposition fighters for days against a major offensive.

Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford reported that pro-Gaddafi forces appeared to be in full control of the town on Saturday, though opposition fighters vowed to keep fighting.

Foreign journalists brought to the city centre by government forces on Friday saw buildings scorched, patches of fresh paint and loyalists chanting “I love Gaddafi”.

“The situation is that nothing is happening. It's just some gangs and people who like to destroy the country,” Mohamed Ali, a Gaddafi supporter, said.

“Then the Libyan army came and cleaned everything up as though nothing had happened.”

Witnesses said government forces had destroyed a graveyard where opposition fighters had buried their dead.

Journalists were instructed to film what appeared to be hastily made graves.

It is unclear how many people, whether rebel fighters or Gaddafi forces, were killed in the fighting in Zawyiah.

On Saturday, troops loyal to Gaddafi launched an assault on the city of Misrata, attempting to recapture the last town in the west of the country still in rebel hands, Reuters reported.

The only rebel outpost between the capital and the eastern front around the oil town of Ras Lanuf is Misrata, Libya's third largest city, with a population of some 300,000 people, around 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli.

Photo: A Libyan opposition fighter, member of the Warfala tribe parades on a horse in Benghazi on March 11, 2011. (Getty Images)