Muammar Gaddafi's forces hammered rebels with tanks and rockets, turning their rapid advance into a panicked retreat in an hours-long battle.
The fighting underscored the dilemma facing the US and its allies in Libya - rebels may be unable to oust Gaddafi militarily unless already contentious international air strikes go even further in taking out his forces.
Opposition fighters pleaded for strikes as they fled the hamlet of Bin Jawwad, where artillery shells crashed thunderously, raising plumes of smoke. No such strikes were launched during the fighting, and some rebels shouted: "Sarkozy, where are you?" - a reference to French president Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the strongest supporters of using air power against Gaddafi.
Reports overnight indicated that the rebels were in flight from Brega and Ras Lanouf.
World leaders meeting in London on Tuesday agreed that Gaddafi should step down but have yet to decide what additional pressure to put on him. "Gaddafi has lost the legitimacy to lead, so we believe he must go. We're working with the international community to try to achieve that outcome," US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said after the talks.
The rout of the rebels on Tuesday illustrated how much they rely on international air power. Only a day earlier, they had been storming westward in hopes of taking Sirte, Gaddafi's home town and a bastion of his support in central Libya.
Many of the ragtag, untrained volunteers who make up the bulk of the rebel forces fled in a panicked scramble. However, some of them backed by special forces soldiers from military units that joined the rebellion took a stand in Bin Jawwad, bringing up truck-mounted rocket launchers of their own and returning fire.
The two sides traded salvos for hours, drilling Bin Jawwad's buildings with shrapnel and bullet holes. But by the afternoon, rebels fled further east, their cars and trucks filling both lanes of the desert highway as they retreated to and even beyond the oil port of Ras Lanouf, about 25 miles away. Some loyalist forces had reached the outskirts of Ras Lanouf, where the thud of heavy weapons was heard and black smoke rose from buildings.
In an open letter to the international community, meanwhile, Gaddafi called for a halt to the "monstrous assault" on Libya and maintained that that the rebels were supported by the al Qaida terrorist network, a claim the opposition denies.
The fighting underscored the dilemma facing the US and its allies in Libya - rebels may be unable to oust Gaddafi militarily unless already contentious international air strikes go even further in taking out his forces.
Opposition fighters pleaded for strikes as they fled the hamlet of Bin Jawwad, where artillery shells crashed thunderously, raising plumes of smoke. No such strikes were launched during the fighting, and some rebels shouted: "Sarkozy, where are you?" - a reference to French president Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the strongest supporters of using air power against Gaddafi.
Reports overnight indicated that the rebels were in flight from Brega and Ras Lanouf.
World leaders meeting in London on Tuesday agreed that Gaddafi should step down but have yet to decide what additional pressure to put on him. "Gaddafi has lost the legitimacy to lead, so we believe he must go. We're working with the international community to try to achieve that outcome," US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said after the talks.
The rout of the rebels on Tuesday illustrated how much they rely on international air power. Only a day earlier, they had been storming westward in hopes of taking Sirte, Gaddafi's home town and a bastion of his support in central Libya.
Many of the ragtag, untrained volunteers who make up the bulk of the rebel forces fled in a panicked scramble. However, some of them backed by special forces soldiers from military units that joined the rebellion took a stand in Bin Jawwad, bringing up truck-mounted rocket launchers of their own and returning fire.
The two sides traded salvos for hours, drilling Bin Jawwad's buildings with shrapnel and bullet holes. But by the afternoon, rebels fled further east, their cars and trucks filling both lanes of the desert highway as they retreated to and even beyond the oil port of Ras Lanouf, about 25 miles away. Some loyalist forces had reached the outskirts of Ras Lanouf, where the thud of heavy weapons was heard and black smoke rose from buildings.
In an open letter to the international community, meanwhile, Gaddafi called for a halt to the "monstrous assault" on Libya and maintained that that the rebels were supported by the al Qaida terrorist network, a claim the opposition denies.
