26 March 2011
Last updated at 05:36 ET
Libyan rebels backed by allied air raids say they have seized control of the frontline oil town of Ajdabiya from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.
The BBC’s Ben Brown in Ajdabiya says there are scenes of jubilation among the insurgents.
Gaddafi loyalists seized the town last week as they advanced east to quell an uprising now in its fifth week.
Saturday’s breakthrough came after a seventh night of bombardment by allies enforcing a UN-mandated no-fly zone.
British RAF Tornado aircraft have been firing Brimstone guided missiles at Gaddafi forces in recent days around Ajdabiya, a town of about 100,000 people.
Our correspondent says those strikes seemed to be even heavier overnight.
Gaddafi ‘promotes everyone’
He counted about 20 Libyan government tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery pieces which have been either abandoned or destroyed.
Analysis
We’re here by the eastern gate and the rebels have definitely taken that. They’re saying they’ve also taken the western gate and the whole town, which they are combing street by street. Behind us there are jubilant rebels who say they’ve scored a decisive victory against the Gaddafi forces.
According to the insurgents, the Gaddafi forces have scattered in all directions, and the rebels are giving chase. It’s a huge morale boost to the rebels but they couldn’t have done it without coalition air power.
The rebels don’t have very sophisticated weaponry, command structure or discipline. There have been a series of massive coalition air strikes through the night by coalition planes which have destroyed Gaddafi tanks and armoured vehicles.
The rebels are saying they will move west to their next target, Brega. Ultimately they’re saying they will go to the capital Tripoli, but that still seems a long way off.
People have been standing on abandoned Gaddafi tanks, firing guns into air, dancing in the streets and blaring car horns, he adds.
They are chanting “Thank you, Obama”, “Thank you, Cameron” – references to the US president and British prime minister.
The rebels say they are going through the town street by street trying to make sure there are no Gaddafi fighters or snipers left.
A correspondent for the AFP news agency also reported that Ajdabiya was back under rebel control.
But Reuters news agency quotes a witness and rebels as saying that Gaddafi forces still held the town’s western gate.
Large explosions were also heard in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Saturday morning.
Witnesses said a military radar site was on fire in that city’s suburb of Tajura, a previous target of the air raids.
Col Gaddafi is meanwhile said to have ordered a universal promotion for everyone in the army and police, and proposed arming civilian volunteers.
The BBC’s Kevin Connolly in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi says the administration’s latest move smacks of desperation.
Pro-Gaddafi forces are still trying to recapture Misrata, the last major western Libyan town in rebel hands, and residents reported shelling continuing there late on Friday.
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Libya rebels ‘recapture key town’