Apr 6, 2011, 9:57 GMT
Cairo/Benghazi - Libyan rebels trying to retake the northeastern oil port of Brega were pushed back to to the city of Ajdabiya early Wednesday by Moamer Gaddafi's armed forces, opposition sources said.
Ammunition lies on the ground next to Libyan rebel fighters near the front line on the road between Ajdabiya and Brega, Libya, on 06 April 2011. EPA/VASSIL DONEV
The rebels were coming under heavy shelling some 30 kilometres outside Adjabiya, located between Brega and the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in the east, one source in Benghazi told the German Press Agency dpa.
NATO aircraft were visible over the eastern rebel-held cities, but there were no signs that attacks on Gaddafi's forces had taken place early Wednesday, according to the opposition.
The military leader of the rebels on Wednesday confirmed they have received weapons from allied countries, but stopped short of saying which countries had supplied them.
He also called on NATO to make an exception to its enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya to allow rebels to attack troops loyal to Gaddafi with their own planes.
'That is not enough,' General Abdul Fattah Younis told satellite broadcaster Al-Aan about the ongoing NATO airstrikes on Gaddafi's forces.
The former interior minister who defected to join the rebels had earlier criticized NATO for not being quick enough with airstrikes.
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