Cairo, Mar 2: Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi today unleashed his force of heavily armed mercenaries who stormed the rebel-held oil exporting terminal town of Brega as US warships took up positions off the north African country's coast.
Forces loyal to Gaddafi also regained control of the strategic town in the country's north west, even as opposition fighters were preparing for a march into the capital Tripoli.
Deploying tanks and heavy artillery, Gaddafi sent hundred cars packed with mercenaries to storm the rebel held Brega as his Russian built warplanes bombed the nearby Ajdabiya, 40 kms from the oil-town.
Though initially Gaddafi's militiamen managed to recapture the town, they were later overwhelmed by a big force of rebels from the adjoining Ajdabiya.
The Libyan despot used a lull in fighting to time his offensive to break the momentum of popular rebellion against his 41-year-old rule, as top US and NATO leaders mulled over the complexities of enforcing a 'no-fly' zone, which would effectively ground Gaddafi's airpower.
The fast paced developments came as the strife-torn nation's newly emerged opposition leaders are approaching the United Nations to ask for foreign air strikes to pulverise Gaddafi's capabilities to hit civilian targets.
The opposition leader based in rebel-held eastern city of Benghazi, Libya's second largest town, said they wanted to invoke the United Nations, "to preempt more massacres by Gaddafi's air force in the coming days as the tide turns against the despot."
Al-Jazeera reported that forces sent by Libyan leader seized back Marsa al-Brega, after fierce fighting lasting overnight as rebel forces had to fall back, under pressure from air-power.
"The town fell after intense fighting due to air-bombardment," the Arab channel reported quoting eyewitnesses. The assaults mark the most significant gains made by Gaddafi's forces who have been on the retreat.
The fresh battles could trigger an intense confrontation which US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned could descend the Arab nation into a prolonged civil war, unless the Arab strongman was made to step down.
Al-Jazeera also said that towns of Gharyan and Sabratha had also switched sides after intense battles.
The opposition leaders said Gaddafi's offensive was aimed at creating a buffer zone around the capital where he is holed up.
An intense battle was also reported to be underway for the control of the town of Misruta, 200 kms east of Tripoli, where rebel forces were reported to be on the periphery of a major air base located on the outskirts of the town.
Though Brega changed hands, opposition commanders said they were confident of flushing out the mercenaries as "we are receiving large-scale defections from the Libyan army."
They said a rebel force of 10,000 volunteers have been massed at Ajdabiya for a counter attack on Brega. Three US warships armed with fighters, helicopter gunships and marines are now in position off the Libyan coast, but US and NATO commanders kept the world guessing whether or not they would impose a 'no-fly' zone.
The White-House said the ships were being redeployed as part of western efforts to pile more pressure on Gaddafi to stop his violent crackdown and step aside.
But a US official stressed it "was not taking any options off the table".
Earlier Defence Secretary Robert Gates had said "we are looking at a lot of options and contingencies. No decisions have been made on any course of action."
Though Gates sidestepped a direct question on whether a decision had been taken on enforcing a 'no-fly' zone, Clinton said Libya was at a crossroads, and the stakes were very high.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, a leading advocate of 'no-fly' zone, said "it was not acceptable to have a situation where Colonel Gaddafi can be murdering his own people using aeroplanes and helicopters.
Earlier in a deposition before the US Congress, the head of US Central Command Gen James Mattis said that enforcing a 'no-fly' zone will first require bombing Libyan radar and missile defence. PTI
