Libya rebels advance on Tripoli

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan rebels said they launched their first attack on Tripoli in coordination with NATO late Saturday, and Associated Press reporters heard unusually heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital. The fighting erupted just hours after opposition fighters captured the key city of Zawiya nearby.

Gunbattles and mortar rounds were heard clearly at the hotel where foreign correspondents stay in Tripoli. NATO aircraft made heavy bombing runs after nightfall, with loud explosions booming across the city.

AP Photo/Sky via APTN

In this image from video rebel fighters celebrate victory on a street in Zawiya, Libya Friday after they battled for control of the strategic central square against forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Rebel forces were reported to have expelled government forces from Zawiya, a coastal city just 30 miles west of Tripoli, on Saturday.

from video rebel fighters celebrate victory on a street in Zawiya, Libya Friday Aug.19 2011 after they battled for control of the strategic central square against forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Rebel forces were reported to have expelled government forces from Zawiya, a coastal city just 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Tripoli, on Saturday Aug. 20. They also claim to have captured two more towns - Zlitan in the west and Brega in the east. The momentum in the six-month-old Libyan civil war now appears to have firmly swung in the rebels favor after months of near deadlock.

He did not appear on television but sounded like he was calling the message in on a poor phone line which crackled at times. He announced the time and date twice to prove that he was speaking live.

Gadhafi condemned the rebels as traitors and "vermin" who are tearing Libya apart and said they were being chased from city to city — a mirror image of reality.

"Libyans wanted to enjoy a peaceful Ramadan," he said. "Instead they have been made into refugees. What are we? Palestinians?"

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim appeared on Libyan television to deny there was an uprising in Tripoli. But he acknowledged that there was some kind of unusual activity.

"Sure there were some armed militants who escaped into some neighborhoods and there were some scuffles, but we dealt with it within a half hour and it is now calm," he said.

The claims from both sides could not immediately be independently verified.

If the rebel did indeed attack Tripoli, it would be the first time in the 6-month-old uprising. The rebels made early gains in the revolt, capturing most of the east of the country and rising up in a few other major cities such as Zawiya and Misrata. But Gadhafi's forces fought back and until a week ago, the civil war had been mired in a stalemate.

Last weekend, rebels from the western mountains near the border with Tunisia made a dramatic advance into Zawiya, just 30 miles west of Tripoli, and captured parts of the city.

Gadhafi appeared increasingly isolated as the fighters advanced closer to Tripoli, a metropolis of 2 million people, from the west, south and east and gained control of major supply roads into the capital.

After hard-fought battles for a week in Zawiya, the rebels finally wrested the city's oil refinery, central square and hospital from Gadhafi's forces and drove them out in a major victory on Saturday that clearly swung momentum in their favor.

Hours later, the attack on Tripoli was claimed.

Col. Fadlallah Haroun, a military commander in Benghazi, said the battles marked the beginning of Operation Mermaid — a nickname for Tripoli. He also said the assault was coordinated with NATO. Haroun told the AP that weapons were assembled and sent by tugboats to Tripoli on Friday night.