Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Just Raiding

Strategypage explains that news of loyalist attacks in the southeast part of Libya aren't conquests:

Columns of armed Kaddafi supporters continue to operate in the southern desert, attacking rebel held towns, especially those containing oil facilities (pumping stations for the pipelines). The rebels have largely managed to keep the raiders out, but have been unable to track down and destroy them. These columns (a dozen or more vehicles full of armed men) are hard to find in the desert, and the NATO air force does not have enough aircraft to watch the desert and hit the targets along the coast, where most of the fighting is taking place.

Ah. I wondered about the status of the southeast. The loyalists should try to take those oil facilities (but not at the expense of the main front at Misrata). Perhaps the raids will change the balance of forces enough for the loyalists to try to seize and hold the objectives. That would hamper rebel efforts to generate revenue.