BATTLING tanks and snipers in Misrata's streets, the rebels holding the city are exploiting a defender's natural advantage in urban warfare to survive a two-month onslaught by better-armed government troops. Blocking a main street with sand-filled trucks and trying to isolate and flush out gunmen loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi firing at them from rooftops, insurgents are waging a desperate fight to cling on to their last major western bastion. But Misrata's fate will likely depend on whether they can prevent their foes from seizing or denying access to its port - a lifeline for trapped civilians and for food and medical aid, as well as a possible way to bring in arms and ammunition. “Control of the port is essential because without that they would be truly cut off, they would fold, they would not be able to withstand the siege,” Shashank Joshi, analyst at Britain's Royal United Service Institute, said. Footage of rag-tag rebels with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles crouching among crumbling buildings and launching hit-and-run attacks evoke images of other city sieges - such as the Serb encirclement of Sarajevo in the early 1990s. But analysts say they have a much-needed edge in fighting in built-up areas on their home turf. They know the terrain better than their adversaries, who may also experience difficulties in using their heavy weaponry to maximum effect. “Even the most efficient and professional troops in the world - like the Americans, the British, who have been in Iraq for example - have found that in urban fighting the advantage is always on the defender,” said military analyst Paul Beaver. Insurgents can use their local knowledge to spring ambushes, and the only way to seize Misrata would be to start leveling it, as the Soviets did in Berlin at the end of World War Two. “The Soviets destroyed whole neighborhoods. There isn't the firepower in the Libyan army to do that,” Beaver added. But the same cityscape that gives the rebels cover and room for swift tactical maneuvering also makes it hard for NATO warplanes to strike at government positions. THE rebels have complained bitterly about the military alliance's failure to take more decisive action against Gaddafi's forces and tip the balance in their favor, warning of an impending “massacre” in Misrata if it fails to do so. “Unfortunately, NATO's mission did not succeed and they have clearly failed to protect civilians in Misrata,” a rebel spokesman named Abdelsalam said, echoing the views of others. The outcome of the battle for Misrata could have wider significance for the Libyan civil war, which has reached stalemate with inconclusive fighting on its fluid eastern front. “If the government troops were able to take over Misrata it would give the rebels a huge victory,” Beaver said. Using Russian-made Grad rockets and mortars, Gaddafi's forces have unleashed daily bombardments on rebel positions as well as residential areas, including one attack that killed several civilians in a bread queue last week, rights groups say. Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in what Western powers have condemned as a “medieval” siege to force Misrata's 300,000-strong population into submission. But the insurgents say they are putting up stiff resistance, thwarting enemy attempts to advance on the port and further into Misrata's center. They said they surrounded three loyalist-held buildings in the city on Sunday, taking control of two of them. “They know that once they step out of their tanks and armored vehicles they will have to face rebel fighters in house-to-house battles,” rebel spokesman Abdelsalam said.
