Rebels answer the call to arms and beat back Gaddafi offensive

Amid the chipped tiles of the Brega morgue the bodies were being prepared for burial this morning, as Libya's revolutionary forces not only celebrated a remarkable victory but began to count its cost.

The previous day a rag-tag army of barely armed volunteers had stood toe to toe with the regime's forces as Colonel Gaddafi launched his first counter-attack into the liberated east.

With no central command and little military training it had, almost miraculously, won through sheer bravery and, ultimately, force of numbers. Throughout the day car after car after car had raced down the desert road from neighbouring Ajdabiya to deposit fresh fighters to replace those wavering under the machinegun fire, mortar shells and aircraft bombs rained down on them by Gaddafi's military.

By nightfall their enemy was in retreat, pulling back to a safe haven 30 miles to the west, closer to the pro-government city of Surte. That prompted utter jubilation, the sky lit up by tracer fire as guns were fired into the air and the road filled with fighters chanting their hatred of the despot. But one victory did not end a war. A plane from the Libyan air force circled not only Brega but Ajdabiya. At just after 8am reports came in of a bomb being dropped on the Brega seafront. No casualties are so far known.

Preparations were quickly being put in place to defend Brega, a key oil installation which provides electricity to much of the east of the country, from the further attacks by Gaddafi forces now expected.

Checkpoints were fortified along the main road coming from the west of Libya, an area which is still largely under Gaddafi control despite pockets of resistance in cities such as Misurata and Zawarah. Pick-up trucks holding heavy machineguns and rocket propelled grenades could be seen driving up to the front line.

At the medical centre to the east of Brega nurses were cleaning the corpses so they could be handed to their families and doctors were tending to those injured in the fighting.

"We have among the wounded two children, one seven years old and the other 14. There is also a dead child, a 12-year-old girl," Dr Abdul Fattah said. "They were hurt when the Gaddafi soldiers took the fight into the houses around the university, firing indiscriminately."

There were unconfirmed reports of pro-government soldiers throwing bodies into the sea. The official death toll was 11 and the injured 28.

The battle had started shortly after daybreak the previous day when some of Gaddafi's best trained forces flooded into Brega and took the airport and the area around the oil refinery. By controlling the oil installation, Gaddafi could stop petrol reaching rebel-held territory and potentially also cut power to the eastern cities, including Benghazi, the de facto capital of the revolutionaries.

When news of the counter-offensive spread, hundreds of people from Ajdabiya raced towards Brega in any vehicle they could find. Most had only limited weaponry, in some cases not even Kalashnikovs but kitchen knives and, in one instance, a barbecue skewer. They were joined by forces from Benghazi who brought anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers. Three antiquated Russian-built tanks rolled forward, taken from a liberated arms depot outside Ajdabiya.

By 11am the anti-government forces had taken control of the sand dunes that border the oil refinery. There were no officers, no instructions, no plans. Gaddafi's men shelled them with mortar rounds and a fighter jet, reportedly a French Mirage, dropped bombs. Groups of women set up a makeshift kitchen a short distance behind the fighters, ferrying forward water, tea and rice and chicken.

By mid-afternoon the number of anti-Gaddafi fighters was sizeable. Working in groups, the fighters slowly surrounded the government troops on three sides, penning them into Brega's university. Anti-aircraft guns which had ineffectually targeted the planes were now pointed groundward, inflicting devastating barrages. By 5.30pm the Gaddafi forces were in retreat. Even then, the danger was not over. As the road filled with celebrating Libyans a fighter jet swooped down to unleash two bombs by the university's main gate.

Delight in victory was tempered by concern as to what happens next. Nobody thinks this is the end. Gaddafi still has considerable military power at his command. "Yes, we won," said Iman Bugaighis, a spokesman in Benghazi for the rebel governing authority. "But we don't know how long it will last. He's getting stronger."