All Photos © Philip Poupin. Above: A young fighter of the Shabab shows his grenade on the road to the frontline near Ras Lanuf, Libya. The Shabab (meaning “youth’”) have taken part in the insurrection against the government of Muammar Qaddafi for more than a month.

Philip Poupin, a photojournalist based in Afghanistan, has covered conflict and human rights issues for six years, most recently covering the conflict in Libya from the rebels’ side. “These pictures were taken before the coalition strikes on the frontline. It was during the retreat of the Rebels before the allies decided to help them to avoid a massacre.” Now out of Libya for the time being, he writes, ” I wanted to stress the Youth who first went to the streets to chase the regime of Qaddafi,” before seizing weapons and launching civil war. Photographing the “mobile frontline” has  been one of the most intense experiences of his life.  “Rockets and bombs were firing around my head. I could clearly hear the whistle of the round passing by a few meters away. Two times I saw big rounds landing some 20 meters next to me but they did not explode. One landed in the sand and rebounded like a rugby ball.  I have been in firefights before, like in Afghanistan and the Congo. But nothing compared with this one where both sides fight with artillery and very few with … kalashnikovs.”

To see more of Poupin’s work click here.

Tags: Libya, Philip Poupin, Ras Lanuf

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 24th, 2011 at 12:00 pm ET by Amber Terranova and is filed under News, Photo Galleries, Photojournalism.