Gaddafi's men launch counterattack

Muammar Gaddafi's forces continue to launch counterattacks on anti-government rebels along the central Libyan coast, with air raids and ground battles reported in the towns of Bin Jawad, Ras Lanuf, Az-Zawiyah and Misurata.

Conflicting claims about the capture and recapture of these strategic cities and towns by pro-Gaddafi forces and anti-government rebels came amid reports of shooting in the capital, Tripoli, an area still controlled by the Libyan leader, which has so far been relatively free of violence.

Gaddafi is facing an uprising since February 17 that has posed the biggest challenge ever to his more than four-decade rule.

It was unclear who was carrying out the shooting in Tripoli, which started early on Sunday, or what caused it, Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reported from the city.

Automatic weapon rounds, some of it heavy calibre, echoed around central Tripoli along with pro-government chants, whistling and a cacophony of car horns as vehicles sped through the vicinity, witnesses said.

However, a government spokesman denied any fighting was under way in Tripoli. "I assure you, I assure you, I assure you, I assure you, there is no fighting going on in Tripoli," Mussa Ibrahim told the Reuters news agency.

Our correspondent, reporting from Green Square in Tripoli, said that thousands of people had turned out to show their support for Gaddafi.

“The square is absolutely packed with supporters of Gaddafi," she said, adding that some of these "supporters" had admitted to a British journalist on Sunday that they were army and police personnel in civilian clothes.

Ibrahim, the Libyan government spokesman said: "Everything is safe. Tripoli is 100 per cent under control. What you are hearing is celebratory fireworks. People are in the streets, dancing in the square."

Conflicting claims

Libyan state television said the shots in Tripoli were in celebration of the government forces' success in reclaiming the cities of Misurata, about 200km east of Tripoli, and Az-Zawiyah, just 50km west of the city, a day after anti-government fighters repelled repeated attacks by forces loyal to Gaddafi.

However, residents of Misurata told Al Jazeera that reports the city had been recaptured were false.

"There's absolutely no grounds for that claim whatsoever," Sadoun Mistrai, one resident, said.

Our correspondent said "locals [in the Green Square] are still out on the street celebrating a military victory that hasn't happened ... you have to wonder what these people have been told".

Later, residents of Misurata said government tanks had begun shelling the town.

"Misurata is currently under attack," a resident told Al Jazeera.

Reporting from north central Libya, near Bin Jawad, Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley said there had been four air attacks in the area on Sunday, one of which was witnessed by Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland.

Reporting from Ras Lanuf, Rowland said an aircraft flew in and dropped a bomb on the area on Sunday.

"We think that the pilot was targeting some heavy anti-aircraft guns that were along the roadside," she said.

The area, in the country's central coast, houses a major refinery and petrochemical complex.

'Pressing forward'

Ras Lanuf, and the nearby town of Bin Jawad, have seen fierce fighting between Libyan government forces and rebels, with reports of opposition fighters having shot down a government helicopter earlier on Sunday.

After Sunday's air attack caused some rebels to briefly flee the area, Rowland reported fighters again heading west towards the frontline.

"We are seeing people loading up with ammunition and guns, vehicles and also ambulances, tearing down the road, pressing forward in the direction of Bin Jawad, which is a town about 30 to 40km to the west of here, where there is still fighting going on in the streets between pro and anti Gaddafi forces," she said.

Earlier on Sunday, rebels said they had come under sniper fire and air attack on the frontline. Al Jazeera's Birtley said rebels were coming under "quite a sizeable force" of heavy resistance from pro-Gaddafi forces.

He described the rebel groups as being "driven by enthusiasm and not really experience".

While the rebels have a strong presence in Ras Lanuf, they told Al Jazeera's Rowland that the town was still held by Gaddafi loyalists.

"What we're seeing is a lot of movement, for the first time in days," she said, adding that the rebel forces are completely disorganised, constantly swinging between euphoria and panic.

"I think that their biggest strength, as far as the rebels are concerned, is the sheers numbers of volunteer fighters. People with no previous military experience came to the call, learning pretty quickly how to operate ... an anti-aircraft carrier."

Earlier on Sunday, the Associated Press news agency reported that Libyan fighter jets had launched attacks

on an anti-Gaddafi force advancing towards the city of Sirte.

Government assault

In another development, Libyan state TV showed pictures of tanks, armoured-personnel carriers and other weapons it said were seized on Saturday from rebels in Az-Zawiyah.

But witnesses told Al Jazeera that rebel forces there were able to repel heavy government assaults on their positions when Gaddafi's forces encircled the city.

More than 30 people were killed and as many as 200 people are feared to have been wounded in the fighting that drove out government forces.

Youssef Shagan, a spokesman for the fighters in Az-Zawiyah, said that Gaddafi's forces had entered the city at 6am local time (04:00 GMT) with hundreds of soldiers, along with tanks and armoured vehicles.

Gaddafi's forces had broken through defences into Martyrs' Square, in the heart of the city, but hours later were pushed back, Shagan said.

Benghazi, Libya's second city, is the stronghold of protesters and is firmly in the hands of anti-government forces, but Libyan state television said on Sunday that forces loyal to Gaddafi were on their way to take back the city.

Evacuation efforts

Meanwhile, the European Union sent experts into Libya on Sunday to get "real time" information on humanitarian and evacuation efforts there.

"I have decided to dispatch this high level mission to provide me with first-hand, real-time information to feed into the discussions leading up to Friday's extraordinary European Council when I will update heads of state and government on the situation," said Catherine Ashton, EU foreign minister.

Firas Kayal, of the United Nation's refugee agency, UNHCR, told Al Jazeera between 12,000 and 15, 000 people - most from Bangladesh - have crossed the border from Libya into Tunisia over the last couple of days.

There are plans to try and arrange a chartered flight to transport them home, he said, adding that some 100, 000 people have crossed the border in total.

Thousands are fleeing Libya's unrest, many being flown out of neighbouring Tunisia. Four US military planes carrying more than 300 Egyptian refugees left for Cairo on Sunday, but many nationals from other countries are still stranded with nowhere to go.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies