Rebels Briefly Lose Control of Western Libyan Town

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

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.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/world/africa/14libya.html

[Arctic Dave]

1. Did the rebels re-loot the town they re-took?

:(

[UnseenUndergrad]

2. Question

Would there be anything left?

But where are the reports that there have been looting: revenge killings I've heard about, but looting I haven't? What would be looted: jewelry, money, weapons? For trophies, for personal wealth, to fund the war, to secure supplies in the trade networks?

The Court system in the new Libyan government is going to have a heck of a time when all this is over.

[joshcryer]

4. Gas stations, emptied of fuel, then the pumps destroyed. Food stuffs, etc.

Some homes were broken in to, I believe the count was a dozen or so, some of them even were torched (I assume leaders of the town), but otherwise their main focus was supplies. Gaddafi did this in Brega and Ajdabiya, too. Both towns were mostly empty of civilians when this took place (you flee if you don't want to fight on a given side, many of Ajdabiya's residents were in a desert town for weeks while the fighting took place, many still have yet to return since it's on the front lines in the east).

There's probably some loose ends on both sides raiding for valuables, but those people are rooted out by either side, imo. In war valuable stuff isn't particularly useful. When we attacked Iraq a lot of soldiers were taking stuff from the palaces, but the army cracked down on it when they found out. I don't know that this was reported in the news, but my brother was there and was partaking (when they left Iraq all of their stuff was searched and most things confiscated; note that many military people are poor, some are even criminals, so they thought it was their just reward).

[Arctic Dave]

9. NPR had a segment on the looting, beatings and murders.

I believe if you go to their website it would have the details.

[joshcryer]

3. They had already looted it, like Gaddafi forces looted Brega and Ajdabiya.

Hopefully all involved will get reparations for these acts. Particularly those in Misrata who had their homes indiscriminately shelled by Gaddafi forces for weeks.

[laser_red]

5. the war ends, when the rebels run out of rebels .nt

[pampango]

6. That's certainly one possibility. Or the regime runs out of solders/mercenaries willing to fight

for it. (Defections and desertions have doomed many a regime where the ruler still wanted to fight to hold on to power.) Or the dictator decides that the "grass is greener" somewhere else (like Saudi Arabia where Tunisia's Ben Ali currently resides and which is a safe haven from the reach of the ICC).

[Fool Count]

7. Lost control? Have you seen the actual footage on the news?

They have heard a remote artillery barrage and run for their lives in total disarray.
Having regained their wits a bit later they turned around and reentered the town
with no enemy still in sight. They call it "retaking" the town. And this bunch of
complete fuckups is supposed to take Tripoli for NATO? Good luck with that.

[KurtNYC]

8. They are pawns in this 'Wag the Dog' BS war

And they are really good at shooting at the empty sky btw.