Battle for control is far from over in the east

Buoyed by the successful attack on the Libyan capital, they chanted “Sirte today, Tripoli tomorrow” as they raced west from their headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi.

On Tuesday, opposition forces took back control of Ras Lanuf, a town of whitewashed walls and palm trees only 90 miles from Sirte, which they had lost to regime loyalists months earlier.

But the steady crump of incoming rockets and the drone of ambulance sirens carrying the dead and injured is a reminder that the war in the east of the country is far from finished.

Families fled from Ras Lanuf in cars or in the back of pick-ups, covering their ears against the sound of explosions.

“We have been trapped inside for three months,” said Abdulkareem Abdulsalem, a 45-year-old oil worker, employed by the refinery just outside town, a key strategic asset. His five children and wife were crammed alongside him into a battered old Peugeot.

“Gaddafi’s people left us alone – they knew we had no money or guns – but this is the first time we have been able to leave.”

His words were drowned out by the whoosh of Grad rockets launching in a fiery arc.

Ten seconds later the ground shook as they slammed into targets further down the road towards Sirte.

Volleys of rockets followed every few minutes, accompanied by chants of “Allahu akbar”.

Three times the rebels have taken Ras Lanuf, and twice they have lost it. Their rag-tag band of volunteer fighters has struggled to hold gains along the coastal road that winds first to Sirte, and then on to Tripoli.

This time though, they look a better-equipped fighting force than when they last conquered the town in March.

All morning, convoys of new army lorries towing gleaming Howitzers headed west. Gone are the battered taxis filled with students. Now they travel in Chrysler 4x4s and smart desert buggies.

But for all their new equipment, the rebels face stiff challenges ahead. Bin Jawad is known for its tough tribal militias, who have sworn allegiance to Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi.

And questions remain about whether the enthusiasm of the haphazard eastern rebels is matched by their tactical nous and command systems.

Yesterday, chaotic scenes at Ras Lanuf hospital emphasised the price they were still paying despite the successes in the west.

One corpse lay in the entrance corridor, covered in a bin liner.

Every few minutes more bodies would arrive. A volley of gunfire greeted those who were already dead.