Libyan rebels have overrun a post on the Tunisian border in a rare advance against government troops in the west of the country, reports say.
The reported capture of the Wazin crossing follows intense fighting in the area.
Witnesses said dozens of Libyan soldiers had turned themselves over to the Tunisian military at the border.
The rebels control much of eastern Libya. Fighting is continuing in the besieged western city of Misrata.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Libyan authorities to “stop fighting and stop killing people”.
Speaking during a visit to Moscow, he said the UN’s priority was to bring about “a verifiable and effective ceasefire” to enable the expansion of humanitarian assistance and political dialogue.
The BBC has seen evidence that suggests Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi is using cluster bombs against his own people – a charge the Libyan government has so far denied.
Rebels in Misrata claim to have found remnants of the bombs, which can kill and maim indiscriminately over a large area.
The BBC’s Orla Guerin in Misrata says she has seen the bombs herself and it is clear they are being used.
Doctors told our correspondent the bombs were leading to increasingly horrific injuries, with innocent civilians losing limbs.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she is disturbed by reports of cluster bombs and has condemned the government’s “vicious attacks” on civilians.
Later, the US said President Barack Obama had approved the use of armed Predator drone aircraft over Libya.
Defence secretary Robert Gates said the drones would be a “modest contribution” to the international efforts.
‘Defections’
The Wazin border post lies on the main road linking the Libyan town of Nalut to Dehiba, in Tunisia.
Reports say the rebels seized the post on Thursday after up to 100 pro-Gaddafi soldiers fled to Tunisia.
Tunisia’s state-run TAP news agency said an entire brigade had defected, including a brigadier-general and two majors.
Restrictions on journalists in remote areas of Libya mean it is hard to independently verify such reports.
“We see rebels who control the border crossing,” one witness in Dehiba told Reuters news agency by phone.
Rebel leader Shaban Abu Sitta told the Associated Press the crossing had been taken after three days of intense battles with government soldiers outside Nalut.
Little information has emerged so far of the fighting in the mountainous western region of Libya – the area is home to Berber tribes who have long opposed Col Gaddafi.
The reported capture of the border post could open up a new supply route for the rebel fighters.
But a doctor with Tunisia’s Red Crescent said there was concern among officials it could also lead to a new wave of refugees into Tunisia.
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“The main worry now is an influx of families fleeing the fighting,” Dr Mongi Slim told AP.
“Before, when the post was under the control of the pro-Gaddafi forces, people had been crossing on little paths. But now it will be much easier.”
Tens of thousands of people fled into Tunisia in the early stages of the fighting, creating a humanitarian crisis on the border.
Exhausted doctors
Thursday morning also saw further fighting in Misrata. An opposition spokesman said mortar fire had killed three rebels there.
On Wednesday, two journalists died in a mortar attack in the city – Tim Hetherington, a British-American filmmaker and Chris Hondros, an American photographer.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said he was “very sad” about the deaths, but that warfare always involved casualties.
A Ukrainian doctor was also killed in a separate artillery blast in Misrata on Wednesday. The doctor’s wife was reported to have been seriously injured in the incident.
Doctors in Misrata’s hospital told the BBC they received more than 100 casualties on Wednesday, the vast majority of them civilians. The hospital said five civilians had been killed.
One doctor said he and his colleagues were exhausted and asked where the international community was.
The International Organization for Migration said a ship carrying 1,000 evacuated migrant workers and several injured Libyans – and the bodies of the two journalists – was due to arrive in Benghazi on Thursday evening.
Inspired by uprisings in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt, Libyan rebels have been fighting Col Gaddafi’s forces since February.
The rebels, based in Benghazi, hold much of the east, while Col Gaddafi remains in control of Tripoli and most of the west.
The rebel Transitional National Council rejected the government’s latest offer of a ceasefire on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the council, Abdul Hafeez Ghoga, said Col Gaddafi wanted a ceasefire because his forces were being destroyed by Nato air strikes.
But government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told the BBC on Thursday that Nato should trust its statements.
“Why don’t they send us negotiators and decide upon a timeframe, a starting date for the ceasefire, and observe whether we keep our promise or not?” he said.
The foreign ministry has also warned of “consequences” to announcements by France, Italy and the UK that they are sending military advisers to Benghazi.
Meanwhile, Libya’s Jana state TV has reported that Nato forces have captured a Libyan oil tanker, in what it described as “a barbaric piracy operation”.
It gave no details on where or when the alleged incident took place.
Nato is enforcing a naval blockade of Libya, as part of the international effort to prevent arms and mercenaries from entering the country.
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Libyan rebels ‘seize border post’