TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan warplanes launched airstrikes and forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi engaged in fierce ground battles Sunday with a rebel force advancing west toward the capital Tripoli along the country's Mediterranean coastline.
Government forces attacked rebels in Bin Jawad, a town between rebel-held Ras Lanuf in central Libya and Sirte on the coast, rebel fighters said. The area could prove to be a decisive battleground.
Associated Press reporters witnessed airstrikes on the rebel forces and heavy fighting on the ground. One fighter, returning wounded from Bin Jawad, said the Gadhafi loyalists had attacked with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Asked what he had seen, he replied: "Death." Distraught, he would not say any more.
Ambulances rushed casualties from Bin Jawad to Ras Lanuf, an oil port 410 miles east of Tripoli. The rebels took Ras Lanuf on Friday.
Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown, is less than 60 miles west of Bin Jawad.
Earlier, thousands of Gadhafi's supporters poured into the streets of Tripoli, waving flags and firing their guns in the air in the Libyan leader's main stronghold. The city woke to the crackle of heavy machine-gun fire that rattled the capital before dawn.
Libyan authorities said the unusually heavy gunfire that began around 5:30 a.m. was celebratory, claiming that government forces had retaken the oil port of Ras Lanouf and the western city of Misrata. But residents in both cities said the opposition remained in control.
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