Libyan Rebels Reclaim Oil Town of Ajdabiya

Libyan rebels have overcome Muammar al-Qaddafi's forces in the strategic oil town of Ajdabiya, seizing control of the city on Saturday, Fox News reports.

Ajdabiya had been under siege for more than a week, with the rebels holding the city center and scattered checkpoints but facing relentless shelling from government troops on the outskirts. Residents are without electricity or drinking water, and many have fled. Coalition warplanes struck Qaddafi's forces on Friday outside the strategic city of Ajdabiya, the gateway to the rebel-held east, hitting an artillery battery and armored vehicles.

Pentagon officials say they are considering more firepower and airborne surveillance systems to find and attack enemy troops in Libya.

On th other hand, Former Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi said Friday that the violence in Libya is being carried out by "extremists" and foreign intervention.

Any foreign military ground operations in Libya will be considered as occupying the country, Russia's envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said on Saturday, RIA Novosti reports. The UN Security Council imposed a no-fly zone over Libya on March 17, also permitting "all necessary measures" to protect civilians from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's attacks on rebel-held towns.

The operation to enforce the no-fly zone, codenamed Odyssey Dawn, is being conducted jointly by 13 states, including the United States, Britain and France.
Rogozin said that on March 29, the Russian-NATO Council will meet in order "to confirm the limits that the UN Security Council has placed on the participants of the conflict."

Western warplanes have flown more than 300 sorties over the North African country and fired 162 Tomahawk missiles in the UN-mandated mission. Libyan state media outlets have reported that dozens of people have been killed by the airstrikes.