Battle of Tripoli
The war in Libya again caught the attention of the entire world community. Conflicting information came from Tripoli, according to some Tripoli fell and the residence of Gaddafi was taken, according to others the assault on the capital of Libya failed. But some conclusions from the heap of incoming information can be done.
It all started with the fact that on Friday separatist units from the western direction came close to the capital of Libya. At the same time, units of Berbers and foreign mercenaries blocked the highway to Tunisia and began to control areas north-west of the capital. Opponents of the regime and criminals who fled from the local prison (more than a thousand people) joined the ranks of the separatists. This apparently explains the reports of violence against civilians, looting. Just west of Tripoli, the separatists had up to 4 thousand people.
On the night of August 21, the first attempt to enter Tripoli took place, with the support of Islamist militants who played the role of the “fifth column” in the city. The Western media, due to their “double standards”, immediately rated these events as “uprising of the population” against the dictator. This attempt failed, on Sunday morning, Safe al-Islam (the son of Gaddafi) made a televised address in which he reported that the rebels had lost the battle for Tripoli and government forces had thwarted an attempt to seize the airport of Mitig on the eastern outskirts of the city.
The Libyan government media announced at the same time the audio message of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to his people: “I congratulate you on having repulsed the attacks of these rats, who are trying to destroy the Libyan people. It's time to organize a millionth campaign to free the destroyed cities and put an end to the rebels forever, ”said the leader of the Jamahiriya.
As military experts noted, government forces at this time found themselves in a difficult situation: the air strikes of NATO forces, which had recently intensified, worsened the supply. There was a shortage of ammunition, medicines, fuel, and the advantage in firepower was lost. The separatist detachments, which had been trained by Western military experts for several months, were no longer so senseless. But the situation was also complicated for the West: more and more often there were offers to go for a separate peace, to stop the war.
Aviation NATO continued to systematically launch bombing raids on positions loyal to Gaddafi's units and their supply bases. NATO planes make up to 100 sorties per day, of which approximately 30-60 are combat missions. The British Air Force uses Tornado and Typhoon airplanes, the French Air Force uses Rafal and Mirage 2000, and Italian, Belgian, Danish F-16, Spanish EF-18, and Canadian CF-18 operate in the sky over Libya. The Western Coalition is actively using English and French helicopters, which are deployed on landing helicopter carriers. In addition, the command of NATO has American combat UAVs. At the end of last week appeared newsthat the Pentagon sent two additional Predator UAVs to the Libyan front; they also work on ground targets.
Under the conditions of complete air supremacy of the NATO air force, which launched air strikes on the city, after regrouping on Sunday, the separatists again tried to take the city. The blow was struck from three sides - separatists were advancing from the west and south, from the north, in the port, a landing operation was carried out. According to a number of military analysts, in fact, the United States and NATO conducted an undeclared ground operation. The separatist actions were coordinated by foreign military experts - not only from NATO countries, but from the countries of the Arab world hostile to the Gaddafi regime. Several, up to a dozen sabotage groups of the enemy, apparently from among the fighters of private military companies who settled in Tripoli under the guise of Western journalists and businessmen, leaked into the city in advance. But on the move, the capital did not come out, fierce street battles began, during which both sides had lost, according to various sources, from one and a half to two thousand people killed and about five thousand people wounded. There are reports that the fighters took part in the battles of special forces of NATO countries - France, England, USA.
According to the London newspaper The Daily Telegraph, British intelligence officers MI-6 took a direct part in planning the operation of the Libyan rebels to storm Tripoli. In particular, the newspaper reported the following: “The officers of the MI-6, who are based on the Libyan opposition in Benghazi, worked out a plan of attack with members of the Libyan National Council. The plan was agreed to by 10 weeks ago. ” Immediately before the start of this operation, the British Air Force launched a series of attacks on the positions of the forces loyal to Gaddafi in Tripoli.
At the same time, Western media brought a wave of misinformation onto the world, so on Monday it was claimed that the separatists controlled up to 80% of the city. Most of the government forces surrendered, only a few continue to resist at the residence of Gaddafi, and in the suburb of Bab al-Aziz. According to the official representative of the Libyan authorities, Musa Ibrahim: “Hospitals are overcrowded, there are not enough medicines”. But there are still thousands of fighters ready to fight. Then came the information that allegedly arrested three sons of M. Gaddafi - Seif al-Islam (they promised to transfer him to The Hague), Muhammad and Saadi. There was information about the death of Khamis, the commander of the elite brigade, which was also not confirmed
Not confirmed reports of separatist victories on other fronts. How the situation has changed in the area of Misrata, Zlitana, El-Bregi, is unknown. But there is information that government troops are not broken and continue to resist, and they are still supported by the militias of the tribes. Islamist militants and mercenaries from Arab and European countries oppose them.
Separatist detachments are still trying to seize El-Bregu, one of the most important ports in Libya (the country's second-largest oil refinery is located there). False information is also associated with Bregay - the rebels took the city from it, but then it turned out that the forces loyal to Gaddafi continue to resist. There were battles for the Evil, which is located in 150 km east of Tripoli. There is information that Europeans were also noted there - at the end of last week in the area of Misurata they landed ashore before 300 well-armed fighters - these were either mercenaries from private military companies, or special forces of one of the unnamed states. After disembarking, this detachment moved towards the Evil and participated in the battles.
Disinformation Campaign
The assault on Tripoli was accompanied by an unprecedented campaign of disinformation of the world's population. The network has been posted footage of the killed leaders of Libya: the Colonel himself, his closest relatives and comrades, including General Abdullah Al-Senussi and Aisha al-Gaddafi. However, it soon became clear that all this is a hoax and a gross fake with the help of computer technology. For example, the image of the "dead" Gaddafi was created on the basis of the picture of the deceased secretary Bin Laden, and Aisha's "body" was constructed on the basis of a photograph of Benazir Bhutto who was killed after the terrorist act.
By the evening of August 22, it became clear that the separatist rebels and Western disinformers did not get something out. The city is not yet taken, the resistance is not suppressed. Mohammed escaped altogether. Then Seif appeared on the screens and angrily branded NATO, calling on the Libyan people to destroy the "rat" traitors. Then Khamis showed up.
An interesting situation emerged with the "jubilant people", after supposedly "taking" Tripoli. It turned out that this is a fake. The authorities of Qatar made a copy of Tripoli before these events, it was believed that for training those who would storm Tripoli. Apparently, the goal was different, there they filmed scenes of “taking” and “national triumph”. The “sensational” reports about the flight of Gaddafi to another country, for example, to Venezuela, also turned out to be completely false.
By the morning of 23, there was evidence that the assault was completely failed. According to the first vice-president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Military Sciences, Captain 1, rank Konstantin SivkovThe West has started a landing operation. She was assigned a decisive role in the storming of the city: “From the other sides, Tripoli was not to be taken, otherwise the rebels would have done so long ago. We decided from the sea. However, since the so-called rebels, by virtue of their weak preparation, would never have been able to independently participate in such a complex form of hostilities, obviously, the Americans landed. ” There was no one else to take Tripoli from the sea, and besides, the United States created a group of marines off the coast of Libya. Two amphibious assault ships of the United States reached the shores of Libya in June. Approximately 200 of the US Marine Corps fighters landed ashore on Sunday: "They were the main striking force of the failed assault."
From here it is possible to understand why in the battles for Tripoli such high losses - the rebels, losing dozens of other people immediately fled, and then there were hundreds of people.
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Latest events:
Gaddafi supporters began to arrive in Tripoli
A large number of supporters of Muammar Gaddafi arrives at these moments in Tripoli in order to give armed resistance to opposition forces. This was announced on Wednesday by the official representative of the Libyan authorities Ibrahim Musa by telephone on the air of a radio station broadcasting in Tripoli.
According to him, up to 6,5, thousands of people who are ready to support the current regime “have entered the city in the last six hours and flooded the streets of Tripoli.” In total, according to Ibrahim, 12 thousand fighters from the faithful Gaddafi tribes are ready to enter the Libyan capital and take control of the situation.
“I think that within two to three days we will return control of Tripoli,” said the representative of the Libyan authorities. He promised to make a "death trap for the rebels" out of the capital. “The city will turn into a bomb ready to explode,” said Musa. He called the opposition "gangsters" engaged in murder and robbery, and even "attacked the Algerian embassy."
According to him, the troops of Colonel Gaddafi are actively resisting the rebels and continue to control the main urban facilities, including the Central Bank building.
“The whole center of the city is in our hands,” Ibrahim pointed out, acknowledging, nevertheless, that Gaddafi’s troops were forced to retreat from a number of areas of Tripoli under the blows of NATO Apache helicopters.
He also noted that supporters of the Libyan leader had managed to “arrest a group of four Qat citizens and one - the United Arab Emirates that supported the rebels”.
“We also detained 20 militants in the west of Tripoli. They were resisted by volunteer groups of youth, - he pointed out. “The clash occurred in the Ain az-Zarr area, we were able to completely eliminate two rebel groups,” ITAR-TASS reports.
According to the newspaper VIEW, head created by the rebels of the National Transitional Council of Libya Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Wednesday that the three-day battle for the Libyan capital Tripoli led to the deaths of more than 400 people, the number of wounded is 2 thousand.
Dozens of “Grad” rockets were released on Wednesday in the capital of the country, Tripoli, most of which was previously captured by the rebels.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi gave a radio address to the nation and said that the surrender of the rebels the government residence in the metropolitan quarter of Bab al-Azizia was a "tactical maneuver".
The National Transitional Council of Libya said on Tuesday that it would relocate its headquarters to the capital, Tripoli, from the city of Benghazi within two days.
On Wednesday night, Moscow time, there were reports of clashes between the loyal troops of Muammar Gaddafi and the rebels in Sebh, located in 700 km from Tripoli.
The intruders Tuesday in Muammar Gaddafi's residence in the metropolitan quarter of Bab el-Azizia rebels smashed the statue placed there the Libyan leader, stole his personal belongings, as well as weapon.
Gaddafi’s troops launched an offensive against the city of Adzhelat, west of the capital Tripoli, Al-Arabiya TV reported on Wednesday.
The British television channel Sky News on Tuesday evening showed footage from Tripoli, in which the rebels hoisted the flag over the residence of the country's leader Muammar Gaddafi.
On news Western news of the capture of the rebels residence of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli on Tuesday, the London press revealed the secrets of the direct involvement of the British special forces in the preparation of the assault the capital of Libya. For example, London openly admits that it supplied the rebels with ammunition.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, as it was reported that members of the Libyan army, loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi's Jamahiriya, leave Tripoli and sent in his hometown of Sirte.
In turn, we note that the Libyan rebels use the old royal flag of Libya as a symbol of the revolution. As 18 August declared the Crown Prince of Libya, Muhammad Al-Senussi, "the revolutionaries decided to raise this flag as a symbol of liberation, independence and freedom." Regarding the prospects of restoring the monarchy in the country, he stressed that the main thing for the people of Libya - is to force Muammar Gaddafi to leave, and then it's time to decide whether or not to restore the monarchy in the country, or choose another form of government.
Meanwhile, Germany is going to support the Libyan opposition and in the coming days will provide the National Transitional Council with a loan of 100 million euros. This was announced on Tuesday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Guido Westerwelle.
Muammar Gaddafi addressed the Libyans
On the night of August 24, the city radio Tripoli sounded the appeal of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. He said that the retreat from the Bab al-Aziziyah complex was a "tactical move" in order to lure the rebels into a trap and prevent new attacks by the NATO Air Force.
Muammar Gaddafi said he was ready to become a “shahid” for the sake of victory, but he would not leave Tripoli.
The text of this speech was also broadcast by the local television channel Al-Uruba, still controlled by supporters of Gaddafi.
TV edition "Al-Uruba" explained that Gaddafi's speech came from the record adviser of the Libyan leader, Musa Ibrahim, who was able to contact his boss on his mobile phone. However, the “live” voice of Gaddafi did not sound on television. The whereabouts of Muammar Gaddafi remains unknown.
Musa Ibrahim told Al-Urub that resistance continues to Libyan 6.000 volunteers to support the forces of Gaddafi. He also said that Libya could turn into a "erupting volcano under the feet of the invaders." According to Ibrahim, the war will continue for months or even years, and not “a few days or hours,” as the “rebels” believe in vain.
Rebel leaders say they control virtually the entire capital of Libya, and state that by the end of this week, resistance will be crushed and Gaddafi’s regime will finally fall.
British television station BBC gave a speech Abdul Hakim Belhadzh, commander of the rebel forces in Tripoli. He said after the capture of the Bab al-Aziziyah complex: "We won the battle. They ran like rats." At the same time, Belhadj admitted that neither Colonel Gaddafi nor his entourage could be detected and captured.
Western media noted, under the control of Gaddafi's troops are metropolitan areas of Abu Salim and al-Hadba - including the quarter in which the hotel is located Rixos, where foreign journalists are.
Some experts on the Middle East believe that the fall of the Gaddafi regime will lead to chaos and will not end the civil war in Libya, but will only mean a new stage in this war. Meanwhile, many Islamist groups have already welcomed the overthrow of Gaddafi. In particular, the leaders of the Libyan opposition 22 August evening received congratulations from the leadership of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. On August 23, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated the Libyan people on "victory."
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