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Advancing Rebels in Western Libya Face Stiff Resistancefb.me/HqEdFm7T
"Most of Zawiya is now in rebel hands, but there are snipers and shelling coming from the east of the city," rebel commander Col. Radwan Heid told CNN. "The snipers are near Zawiya hospital. People are leaving. They can't stay because of the shelling. These are the last days, God willing."
Rebels are setting up checkpoints and field hospitals to treat the wounded -- many of whom have been shot or impaled by shrapnel.
Zawiya is on a strategic supply route to the west of Tripoli. If rebels gain control of that city, it would be a major stride in putting a stranglehold on the Gadhafi-controlled seat of power.
Col. Ahmed Banni, military spokesman for the opposition National Transitional Council, said on Tuesday that rebels hope to enter the capital by the end of the month.
Col. Roland Lavoie, a spokesman for NATO's military operation, told reporters on Tuesday that "anti-Gadhafi forces are now assuming control of the key approaches to Tripoli."
He described the advances as "the most significant anti-Gadhafi territorial gain we have seen in months."
Since the end of July, as the threat from pro-Gadhafi forces has diminished, thousands of people have returned to their homes in the western Nafusa mountains, he said.
Since Friday, the northwest coastal city of Misrata has been free of pro-Gadhafi forces, he said.
And the threat from nearby Zlitan has diminished as pro-Gadhafi forces are being pushed farther west, he added.
Over the last week, NATO warplanes have damaged or destroyed some 150 military targets as part of Operation Unified Protector, Lavoie said.
"Our assessment, without going into details, is that the Gadhafi regime does not have anymore an effective operational capability," he said.
Lavoie said that rebels had occupied Surman and Sabratha west of Tripoli, but added that the regions were "still contested."
However, Libyan state television reported that pro-Gadhafi forces and tribal fighters were "cleansing the city of Sabratha from the gangs of traitors" and had secured the coastal road, a key supply pipeline into Tripoli.
Though the center of Zawiya was under rebel control, "there's still reports of fighting also in the suburbs," Lavoie said.
A spokesman for the Gadhafi government offered a different view on Tuesday. "We are doing very well," Ibrahim Musa told reporters. "It's true that it's a bit slow -- people are still saying that we're not acting immediately and that we're having problems in Surman and Sabratha and what not because of armed gangs. That's true but, God willing, we are able to lead this battle successfully. We will achieve peace and victory."
