Libyan rebels took control of an oil refinery in the western town of Zawiyah and blocked the main highway north to the capital today to further isolate Muammar Gadafy's Tripoli stronghold.
Rebel advances in recent days have cut Col Gadafy's forces off from their main supply routes following a months-long stalemate, putting the Libyan leader's 41-year rule under pressure.
Small groups of rebel fighters occupied the inside of the Zawiyah refinery complex, about 50km west of Tripoli on the highway linking Tripoli to Tunisia, with no sign of the pro-Gadafy forces that had battled for the plant for days.
Doctors at a hospital a few kilometres south of Zawiyah said nine people were killed and at least 45 injured in fighting around the town and at the refinery on Wednesday, most of them rebels, and said pro-Gaddafi forces had hit a house near the hospital with Grad rockets.
Rebels also controlled the town of Garyan, which sits about 80km south of Tripoli on the main highway, a Reuters reporter there said, adding that rebels had placed a T-34 tank and an anti-aircraft gun taken from Gaddafi forces in the main square.
"We took one tank and an anti-aircraft gun from Col Gadafy's forces. Next, we will go to Tripoli," said one of the fighters.
A spokesman for Col Gadafy played down recent rebel gains and said the government remained in control of the country. "This is a crisis that will last a few days and then it will be - God willing - overcome," said Mussa Ibrahim in remarks carried by JANA news agency said today. "We will push ahead and until we liberate the whole country."
In Brega, on the eastern front, rebel forces said they had suffered 18 killed and 33 wounded on Tuesday and yesterday in their battle to dislodge Col Gadafy forces from the oil port and refinery, where they have been fighting for many days.
Libyan state television showed video of Gadafy supporters at the Brega terminal yesterday chanting the leader's name.
After 41 years of power, the Col Gadafy (69) seems isolated. Rebel forces are closing in from the west, south and east, cutting off his Tripoli stronghold on the Mediterranean shore. The Libyan leader's whereabouts are not known.
Aided by Nato's fighter-bombers, assault helicopters and a naval blockade, the rebels have transformed the battle in the last few days after many weeks of stalemate.
Libya's rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) denies holding secret talks with Gadafy to end the war. But suspicions persist that some form of end-game negotiation may be going on.
The NTC insists Gadafy should step down and leave Libya, saying talks ignoring this basic demand would be "unthinkable".
Reuters