Rebels in Misrata claimed victory as Libyan government troops retreated from front lines, in what appeared to be a significant setback for Muammar Gaddafi's forces hastened by NATO air strikes.
Misrata, the last large city held by rebels in western Libya, had been under a punishing government siege for nearly two months and hundreds of civilians have died in the fighting.
‘We have been told to withdraw. We were told to withdraw yesterday,’ a government soldier captured by rebels told Reuters on Saturday from the back of a pickup truck.
He was among 12 wounded soldiers brought by rebels to hospital in Misrata, 200km east of Tripoli. Blasts and machinegun fire could be heard in the distance.
Rebel spokesman Gemal Salem later told Reuters b that Gaddafi's forces had left the city but remained outside and would still be in a position to bombard it.
‘Misrata is free, the rebels have won. Of Gaddafi's forces, some are killed and others are running away,’ he said.
But the overall trend of fighting in Libya was far from clear. Al Jazeera television reported that heavy fighting continued around a hospital in western Misrata being used as a base by Gaddafi's forces.
And government forces captured the town of Yafran in Libya's Western Mountains today, a rebel spokesman said.
The conflict in the Western Mountains has received little international attention. Rebels there captured a border post two days ago and had begun been rushing supplies to towns under attack, saying they were cheered by reports from Misrata.
The Libyan government said late last night that NATO air strikes had taken their toll on its forces.
‘The tactic of the Libyan army is to have a surgical solution, but it doesn't work, with the air strikes it doesn't work,’ Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said.
‘The situation in Misrata will be eased, will be dealt with by the tribes around Misrata and the rest of Misrata's people and not by the Libyan army,’ he told reporters in Tripoli.
Washington launched its first Predator drone today, the US Defense Department said. NATO later said the target had been a multiple rocket launcher which had been used against civilians in Misrata.
A British military spokesman said British warplanes had destroyed government armoured vehicles near Misrata and in other areas of Libya in recent days.
Former US Presidential candidate Senator John McCain has said Washington should deploy ground attack aircraft and recognise the rebels' Transitional National Council as the official government of Libya.
Mr McCain is in Benghazi for talks with rebel leaders.
