Qaddafi Pushes East Toward Rebel Base as U.S. Mulls Action

Muammar Qaddafi’s forces carried out air strikes against rebels in the town of Ajdabiya, as the U.S. and its allies grapple with measures that would halt the Libyan leader’s eastward advance.

Ajdabiya, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the rebel base in Benghazi, came under bombardment today as insurgents prepare to defend it, a resident said. Rebel troops fled Brega under heavy attack throughout yesterday, though there was renewed fighting around the town as rebels said they re-entered, the Associated Press reported. State television showed footage of what it said was Brega “after it was purged of armed terrorist gangs.”