Libya troops adopt rebel tactics

BBC:

Ras Lanuf has now changed hands for the fourth time in three weeks. BBC world affairs editor John Simpson in Tripoli has been assessing the fighting.

Colonel Gaddafi's forces have changed their tactics.

The Libyan army has not always been known for its efficiency or its high morale.

Now though, it has shown a remarkable degree of flexibility, and has chosen to adopt tactics used by the rebels only a few days ago, when they were sweeping along the coastal road, apparently unstoppably, in the direction of Sirte.

The sudden turnaround of fortune is the result of several factors.

The first is that Colonel Gaddafi's army has decided to follow methods which the rebels have used so successfully.

Its men are racing forward in the ordinary flat-bed trucks known elsewhere in Africa as 'technicals', with heavy machine-guns or anti-aircraft guns mounted on the back.

Others are equipped with mortars. Though these are quite light, they often cause great panic among the rebels, and are quick and easy to move forward.

Once the pro-Gaddafi forces managed to regain momentum, there was another shift in morale, and the rebels lost the confidence they had built up during the previous days.

...
The AC-130s and the A-10s that the US has sent to fight in Libya could wipe out the government team in these vehicles with just a few passes. Apparently, they are not in a position to be used yet, or the NATO command team has decided against using them. That would be a puzzling development, since they could wipe out one of these "mechanized" units in short order.

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