Libyan rebels fought forces loyal to Muammar Gadafy for a second day today in the town of Zawiyah, bringing the revolt against his rule to within a few kilometres of the capital.
A rebel spokesman in the town said 13 rebel fighters and civilians, including a 7-year-old boy, were killed in fighting there yesterday, and the main road to neighbouring Tunisia - a supply line that has kept the country running despite sanctions - was closed by the fighting.
Zawiyah was the scene of battles in February and March when pro-Gadafy forces snuffed out that rebellion and used bulldozers to flatten the town's central mosque.
"The situation is bad, very bad," a rebel spokesman, who gave his name as Ibrahim, told Reuters by telephone from Zawiyah today.
"Fierce fighting is taking place now. The (pro-Gadafy) brigades have been receiving reinforcements ... There are many snipers on rooftops of buildings and mosques. They are the main threat to the residents," he said.
"There were 13 martyrs, including a 7-year-old boy, from fighting yesterday."
Accounts from Zawiyah could not be independently verified because reporters were not able to reach the town itself.
Government officials in Tripoli claim there is no serious fighting in Zawiyah, just small groups of fighters who have gone there from rebel-held areas to "make trouble".
The defeat of Zawiyah's previous rebellion marked the restoration of Col Gadafy's control over western Libya after the first, chaotic few weeks when people across the country rose up against his four-decade-old rule.
Three months later, the balance of forces appears to have shifted, with Col Gadafy under pressure from sanctions, defections from his entourage and Nato air strikes that have been pounding his Bab al-Aziziyah compound in the capital.
Western governments say they believe that it is only a matter of time before his rule collapses, while rebels are gradually expanding the areas they control around Misrata, a city east of Tripoli, and in the Western mountains region.
A rebel spokesman in Zintan, part of the rebel-held mountain range south-west of Tripoli, said pro-Gadafy forces were mounting a heavy artillery bombardment."
"They (pro-Gadafy forces) launched a vast attack at 07:00 this morning, using mortars and Grad rockets," the spokesman, called Abdulrahman, told Reuters from Zintan.
"The shelling is still going on ... The revolutionaries are trying to defend the town," he said.
Reuters