Days ago they gleefully streamed up Libya's coastal road wearing massive grins as international air strikes flattened anyone who stood in their way.

But today Libya's rag tag rebel army of enthusiastic amateurs was speeding down exactly the same road in the opposite direction - as they ran for their lives after coming face-to-face with what remains of Colonel Gaddafi's army.

The increasingly shambolic rebels - who at times resemble characters from Mad Max - gained as much as 200 kilometres of territory in a two-day lighting advance from their stronghold of Benghazi earlier this week.

But today they had given up almost all of those gains following a day-and-a half of hasty retreat as they were shelled by government forces that had not been eliminated from the air.


How things change: The rebels stream up the road on Monday towards Ras Lanuf after international air strikes forced Gaddafi's forces to retreat


Beating a retreat: The rebel forces retreat in disarray down the Libyan coastal road east of Ras Lanuf which they gleefully advanced up only a few days ago

Their rapid retreat east today saw them ceding land and a series of oil towns as quickly as they had taken them after Muammar Gaddafi's forces unleashed rockets and artillery on lightly armed rebel forces.

Aided by Western air strikes, they had made a two-day charge along more than 200 km (125 mile) of barren coast and seized strategic oil terminals. They have now retreated, giving up gains to Gaddafi's better armed troops.
The failure of the rebels to hold ground and put pressure on Gaddafi, despite more than 10 days of Western-led air strikes, is likely to unsettle the United States, Britain, France and others who want to see the Libyan leader step down.

Hundreds of rebel pick-ups mounted with machine guns and other vehicles streamed east of Brega with little sign of order, heading towards Ajdabiyah, a town that rebels took five days to retake from Gaddafi even after air strikes were launched.

'We are going to Ajdabiyah,' said rebel fighter Mohamed al-Abreigi. 'We will gather there and, God willing, we will head back to Brega today.'
Dozens of rebel vehicles gathered at the western gate to Ajdabiyah, a town which lies about 140 km (90 miles) south of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. But rebels did not seem to be regrouping into defensive positions there.

One man in military fatigues shouted: 'Civilians inside, civilians inside.'

When asked what was happening, one rebel said: 'We don't know. They say there may be a group (from Gaddafi's forces) coming from the south.' To the south is open desert.

Ajdabiyah, battered by the to-and-fro of fighting, stands at the gateway to the rebel held east of Libya. It is located on a key junction with one route heading to Benghazi and another northeast to the oil port of Tobruk near the Egyptian border.
Libyan families were fleeing north to Benghazi as news of the retreat spread. The road out of Ajdabiyah was packed with cars carrying families and their belongings.

Rebels had advanced beyond the coastal town of Bin Jawad, about 525 km (330 miles) east of the capital Tripoli. But as they approached Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, they came up against the Libyan leader's heavier weaponry.

'Gaddafi's forces have Grad (rockets) which have a range of 40 km (25 miles) , If we had Grads we could liberate Libya in a day,' said rebel fighter Ezzedine Saleh.

Another fighter, Muftah Mohammed, told Reuters: 'Kalashnikovs, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and light rockets - these are our weapons.'

Rebels regularly appeal for better weapons from the West and more air strikes. [size=13pt]But even some members of the rebel movement have admitted that one of the biggest challenges is keeping discipline in their enthusiastic but inexperienced force. Few rebel fighters have much formal military training. They have proved keen to race to the front but equally swift to fall back with little sign of order when big guns fire at them. [/size]



Their own weapons offer little to block Gaddafi's advance.

'Where is the French air force? We won't be able to get to Sirte except with help from the French air force,' said rebel Rafa Abbas near Ras Lanuf, moments before aircraft roared overhead. A series of loud booms followed.

A rebel fighter, Ahmed, returning from Ras Lanuf, told Reuters: 'The French planes came and bombed Gaddafi's forces.'

But the apparent aerial attack showed no sign of slowing down Gaddafi's advance or halting the pace of the rebel retreat.

Some 10-15 km (6-10 miles) west of Brega, around a dozen rebel fighters stopped by the road and trained their guns south into the Sahara. Wisps of smoke could be seen in the distance.

'They (Gaddafi's forces) are coming from the desert,' yelled one fighter. Another fired his Kalashnikov rifle in the air to scare away a group of camels.

There was no sign of the rebels forming any determined defence of the sprawling oil town of Brega.

LoL

Na beans?

So, So funny watching the west's rag tag sympathisers run for their lives. This Is the funniest thing I have seen In ages
One guy was saying on Aljazeera "When Ghaddafi's men starts firing at us, i had to run back"

War no be beans o!

What a rabble ! They believe that the coalition should remove all opposition, allowing them to reach Tripoli. As soon as they are fired at, they turn around and run. Unless they learn to fight, Gadaffi and his goons will prevail.

I think the majority of the 8000 civilian casualties the media is reporting were actually armed rebels. which technically means they are not civilians.

@op
War has never been a 'hollywood' movie won by air strikes alone despite some British special forces on the ground. The Libyan rebels are not just civilians but are also made up of some defecting Libyan soldiers who are not exactly motivated enough. Propaganda and foreign air cover alone cannot win any meaningful war campaign no matter how "justified" the rebel cause may be. The so called rebels cannot use their war planes either because of the "no fly' rule over Libyan territory . Is it not ironical that 'foreigners', 'liberators' or 'mercenaries' have the freedom of the airspace but the 'secessionists' or 'rebels' cannot fly?

@na2day!

Indiscipline and lack of organisation is their major problem not weapons. If organised properly and focused they can actually do damage. The talk of 'lack of weapons' is 'code' and an open invitation for other outside intervention and arms deals but the Americans are not too sure because of their past direct experience with Al Quaeda via Pakistan during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. They cannot rely on seeming enthusiasm or appearances alone. Arabs are very 'volatile' and 'unreliable' customers if history is our guide .

they seem to make up for their poor fighting skills by lynching black africans though:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-636004.99999.html

cap28

they seem to make up for their poor fighting skills by lynching black africans though:

@cap28

They'll lynch black Africans because the initial propaganda was "sub-saharan mercenaries" to assuage their inherent historical prejudices and inadequacies despite the fact that over forty percent of the population of Libya is pure African or 'black'. Quadaffi's son even acknowledged that fact, when he was interviewed by the media. Somehow, the 'mercenary' propaganda is no longer viable and is fallen off the media headlines hence the acknowledgement that the national army is well trained, equipped and disciplined enough to sustain a counter offensive against the rag tag rebel forces. Every serious military/war scholar will acknowledge that - stragglers, 'defectors' or 'traitors' and indisciplined armed young men do not make good war fighting soldiers let alone 'revolution' which is a huge leap in the desert wilderness. Hollow headed enthusiasm does not make a revolution .