It's hard to say whether this was a serious attempt by Gaddafi or just a test. He did send in his air force which dropped a few bombs and dispersed the crowds. The assault left many casualties including children. The Guardian:
A thundering burst of machine-gun fire just before 6.30am heralded the attack on the outskirts of Bregga, a sand-strewn service town about 150 miles south of Benghazi. The loyalist forces had crept in during the night, patiently set up in an industrial area on the city limits, and dug in.Al Jazeera has a video account of the battle including the air force bombing.
"They arrived in 60-70 Toyota trucks," said Wais Werfali, 40, who works in a nearby ammonia production plant. "They have set up a perimeter and are using families from the area as human shields."
By sunset, the battle had been joined by rebels streaming down from the city of Ajdabiya. A decisive phase in this war for control of eastern Libya had begun.
