Tripoli, March 03: (Libyan revolutionaries) Pro-democracy fighters controlling the eastern town of Brega in Libya have repelled an assault by the forces loyal to embattled ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
Well-armed Gaddafi forces arrived in large numbers, and at one stage appeared to hold the upper hand, however, they were later forced to retreat, the state-fund BBC reported on Thursday.
Brega is an oil hub of Libya. Libya is Africa’s major oil producer and one of Europe’s biggest North African oil suppliers.
It has been the first major attack on the town by Gaddafi’s troops since the uprising began.
According to medics, at least 14 people were killed and many others wounded during the fighting. The number of the casualties on the part of the pro-Gaddafi forces in not announced.
Earlier, forces loyal to Gaddafi used a fighter jet to pound positions belonging to opposition forces in Brega.
Two missiles fired from the aircraft landed a few meters from a square where pro-democracy protesters were celebrating their victory over Gaddafi loyalists in an earlier assault.
Another fighter jet earlier launched airstrikes on an arms’ depot in Ajdabiya, some 40 kilometers from Brega.
Gaddafi lost control of several main cities in the east and the west of Libya following the popular uprising in the North African nation.
Reports by human rights groups say over 6,000 people have so far been killed in the government’s harsh crackdown on protesters.
——–Agencies