Fighting flares up inside Tripoli

21 August 2011 Last updated at 14:05 ET

Bloody battles have been raging in the Libyan capital Tripoli, as reporters travelling with rebels forces say they have reached the city from the west.

Hundreds of rebels have been seen streaming in vehicles towards the city.

An AFP correspondent saw crowds of civilians running alongside rebel vehicles as they drove in at dusk.

Col Muammar Gaddafi has gone on state TV to say he will not abandon Tripoli. His supporters say he has tens of thousands of fighters to defend him.

Near a hotel used by foreign journalists in Tripoli long bursts of automatic fire could be heard on Sunday afternoon.

Rebel forces have advanced from the east and west in recent days, backed by Nato aircraft enforcing a UN resolution to protect civilians.

Critics accuse the alliance of overstepping its mandate by helping the rebels – an allegation it denies.

Bloody battles

It is clear there have been bloody battles in parts of Tripoli, the BBC’s Matthew Price reports from the city.

In areas where the fighting has not been taking place, people are said to be staying indoors, our correspondent adds.

Gunfire has been heard throughout the day in Tripoli, as well as at least four loud explosions earlier in the day.

A government source told Reuters news agency that 376 people had been killed overnight on both sides and more than 1,000 wounded.

Unconfirmed rebel reports say a group of fighters slipped into Tripoli by sea from Misrata and engaged pro-Gaddafi forces in the city’s eastern Tajoura district, where clashes between opponents and supporters of Col Gaddafi have been reported since Saturday.

Unrest was also reported in the eastern districts of Soug Jomaa and Arada.

Rebels have taken the base of the Khamis Brigade, one of the best-trained and equipped units in the Libyan military, commanded by a son of Col Gaddafi.

It is unclear if the base, previously bombed by Nato, was in use when the rebels arrived.

Earlier on Sunday, rebels advancing from the west captured the town of Jaddayim but after pushing on to Maya, 35km west of Tripoli, they were forced back by pro-Gaddafi forces with heavy artillery.

They were met with very heavy incoming fire and ran back along the road, setting up a new front line a few kilometres out of the town, the BBC’s Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports.

Ceasefire call

A government source told our correspondent in Tripoli that 65,000 “professional soldiers” loyal to Col Gaddafi were ready to defend the city.

Libyan Information Minister Moussa Ibrahim accused rebel forces of massacring people in towns and villages seized in recent days, and warned of “many” deaths and “terrible crimes… inside Libyan cities”.

At the same time, he urged the rebels to open talks. “If want peace, we are ready,” he said.

Mr Ibrahim also accused Nato of “opening the roads ahead of the rebels who are too weak to do anything themselves”.

Nato spokesman Col Roland Lavoie told the BBC the alliance was involved only in protecting Libyan civilians.

“Our mandate is to protect the population of Libya against attacks or threats of attacks and this is what we have done since the beginning,” he said.

Libya’s conflict broke out in February, inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt which toppled the presidents of those countries.

Rebels in the east rapidly consolidated their gains, but a stalemate developed in the west as rebels there faced overwhelming military force.

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