Despite support from NATO air power, the opposition has failed to make much headway against the Libyan army's far superior ground forces. After an initial, successful counter attack, which saw them recapture towns they had lost to pro-Qadhafi forces only days before, the revolutionaries were pushed back as the Libyan army regrouped. The opposition forces are a ragtag army made up of civilian irregular militias, poorly co-ordinated by defecting army officers and soldiers. They operate under the leadership of Omar Hariri, who has been handed responsibility for military affairs within the Transitional National Council, the Benghazi-based political body representing the opposition. Mr Hariri is a revolutionary who was involved in the 1969 coup that brought Colonel Gaddafi to power, but who later fell out of favour with the Libyan leader and was imprisoned. General Abdul Fatah Younis, who also took part in the 1969 coup and remained a close ally of Colonel Gaddafi until his resignation as interior minister on February 22nd, has taken command of the opposition forces.

In early April thousands of Libyans demonstrated outside the headquarters of the Transitional National Council in Benghazi to demand more air strikes against Colonel Qadhafi's forces following a decline in their number since NATO took command. Speaking at a press conference on April 5th, General Younis said that NATO had failed to provide what was needed. He warned that the Transitional National Council would raise the issue with the UN Security Council if the situation did not improve. The revolutionaries have called on the West to supply them with arms and munitions, a request that remained on the table at the beginning of April. The matter was seemingly discussed at a conference attended by representatives from more than 40 nations in London on March 29th. David Cameron, the British prime minister, argued that although Libya was subject to an international arms embargo, the UN resolution, which allows for "all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas", provides the legal basis to supply the rebels with arms if necessary. Mr Cameron insisted that his government had not yet taken the decision to provide weapons. Similarly, the US president, Barack Obama, was reluctant to articulate a definitive stance on the matter, but confirmed he had already agreed to provide non-lethal aid, such as communications equipment, medical supplies and transport to the opposition forces. It subsequently emerged that Mr Obama had signed a secret presidential "finding" authorising covert US operations to support the rebel forces. Additional reports suggested that British intelligence and special forces were also operating in Libya alongside the CIA.