Common enemy
July 22, 2011
"Male, 15 years old. He's wearing a t-shirt boasting Libya's pre-Gadhafi flag and his unsecured Kalashnikov is resting against his foot. I've come across that wound more than once. They always say it happened in combat but that is impossible unless you're lying on your back and get shot at ground level," Doctor Mohannad Aith al Khalifa, a doctor at Zintan's hospital in the Nafusa mountains, tells Deutsche Welle.
Since the war erupted in Libya last February, many civilians of almost all ages have woken up with a gun in their hands, without knowing what to do with it. There's no way of knowing how many fighters have been killed or wounded by mishandling weapons or, simply, during one of the gun-toting celebrations after a battle victory. Small wonder that the number of victims on both sides remains unclear.
At least five of the fighters recovering at Zintan's hospital would have gladly traded their severe wounds for a "simple" shot in the foot. After the rebels captured several weapon depots in al Qa'a late last month, an alleged "booby trap bomb inside one of the boxes containing explosives," caused a terrible explosion that injured five rebels.
Shortly after hearing the "official" version, we came across the truth: it was a rebel who, carried away by the euphoria after successfully seizing the compound, mishandled a piece of a Russian anti-aircraft missile made in 1982. But other questions still remain unclear.
"We have found different parts of missiles, shells, etc., but not a single complete one. I wonder how they were going to use them against us," Rasool, a rebel in charge of transporting part of the stock, told Deutsche Welle.
According to experts, the poorly-stocked army arsenals could be the result of Gadhafi's mistrust of his own army.
Chaos on the front
In the Berber town of Nalut, 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the Tunisian border, stories from the front are equally strange:
"Four days ago, we went on a night raid against Gadhafi's position in Kut (Western Nafusa). As we exchanged fire, our platoon was totally in shambles," Bassim, a Libyan-Canadian who recently enrolled in a squad called "Tripoli Brigade," told Deutsche Welle.
Apparently, that night, luck was on the side of the rebels: "It was a miracle that we won, with only one of us injured. Better still, we even managed to take two prisoners - most of the soldiers fled, but those two were so drunk that they could barely stand up," added the young fighter with a broad smile.
According to Tripoli, the rebels in the Nafusa mountains are well equipped, mainly due to the alleged Western air supplies. Nonetheless, Deutsche Welle has barely seen anything else but poorly-armed rebels, toting kalashnikovs and FAL rifles - the latter a French weapon dating back to the 1950s.
Jadu would be just "another Berber town" were it not for a runway painted on its main road. However, neither the infrastructure nor the "air drops" claimed to have been made by France recently seem to meet the local demand for all kinds of weapons' supplies.
In an exclusive interview given to Deutsche Welle recently, rebel colonel Mokhtar Milad Fernana claimed that only one "test-landing" had taken place at Jadu's "airport." The rebel chief commander categorically denied receiving any air-dropped supplies from the French government.
Harmless soldiers
The general picture of the mountain front is that of rebels controlling the heights and government troops keeping their positions in the desert plains. But this equation has recently started to change. The Libyan tricolour flag and the Berber symbols also dominate the village of Qala, whose houses are scattered down the valley toward the desert. It is true that Gadhafi's self-propelled GRAD rockets keep pounding this tiny community, however army soldiers no longer patrol the steep streets of the village.
After the recent victory over the Gadhafi-controlled Walish village in Eastern Nafusa, rebel troops strengthened their presence on the outskirts of Bir al Ghanam. This is a strategic point with its back to the mountains and a mere 70 kilometers from Tripoli. But many fear the Libyan desert may well turn into a "Rubicon" for a group of rebels too used to scanning the horizon from the heights of the mountains.
Rashid, who does not want to give his full name for fear of reprisals against his family in Tripoli, is probably one of the few well-trained fighters here, thanks to his previous combat experience during the siege of Misrata.
"Have you seen how many people are here without any weapons, and with literally no idea of what to do? They're not only putting their lives in danger but other people's lives too. Besides if things get ugly we do not even have enough vehicles to evacuate everyone," he told Deutsche Welle.
Surprisingly enough, the rebels in the Western Libyan mountains seem to be piling up one victory after another. Neither the lack of experienced fighters, nor the apparent disorganization seem to pose a handicap as they advance toward Tripoli.
Still, the crux of the matter is that whatever is actually happening within the ranks of Gadhafi's troops remains one of this war's biggest mysteries.
Author: Karlos Zurutuza, Zintan, Libya
Editor: Rob Mudge