Gaddafi Forces Push Back Rebels

After a second round of American and European air and sea strikes in Libya, rebel fighters who tried to retake the eastern town of Ajdabiyah said they were thwarted by rockets and tanks fired by Gaddafi forces who maintain control of the city's entrance. The town of Ajdabiyah straddles a critical highway junction that has prevented both the opposition and pro-government forces from making advances. The rebels were in a state of chaos while retreating from Ajdabiyah, with one commander failing to summon together the opposition forces as he called out for them on a broken megaphone. The allied campaign made up of Britain, the U.S., and France has received more criticism, particularly from China and Russia. Echoing Muammar Gaddafi's sentiments expressed on the first day of strikes, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the strikes "[remind] me of a medieval call for a crusade."