Forces
loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are resisting an advance by Libyan
rebels towards the embattled Libyan leader's hometown of
Sirte in the fiercest clashes since the start of a sweeping
offensive that has brought a string of coastal towns under
opposition control.
The
rebels, backed by international coalition air strikes, have
advanced largely unchecked since Friday but claims in Benghazi,
the rebel's eastern stronghold, earlier on Monday that Sirte
had also fallen were premature.
Opposition
fighters are now engaged in clashes about 100km east of
the city, with pro-Gaddafi forces shelling their front lines.
Fighting
is ongoing at Nawfaliya, about 180km east of Sirte, where
opposition forces say they have come upon a heavily mined
road. Pro-Gaddafi forces have dug into positions near the
front line, and are shelling opposition fighters.
"Sirte will not be easy to take. Now, because of NATO
strikes on [the government's] heavy weapons, we're almost
fighting with the same weapons," said General Hamdi
Hassi, an opposition commander from the city of Bin Jawad.
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