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Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have stationed tanks near his compound in central Tripoli and are resisting rebel attacks, a rebel official told Reuters by telephone.
“The situation is not stable. There is gunfire everywhere. Gaddafi’s forces are using tanks at the port and Al Sarine street near (Gaddafi’s compound at) Bab al-Aziziyah,” said the rebel official in Tripoli, who gave his name as Abdulrahman.
The Libyan rebels continue to advance in Tripoli encountering no resistance and are now 3 km from Gaddafi’s bunker.
Rebels surged into the Libyan capital Sunday night, meeting only sporadic resistance from troops loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and setting off raucous street celebrations by residents hailing the end of his 42 years in power.
The rebel leadership announced that insurgents had captured two of Colonel Qaddafi’s sons, including Seif al-Islam, his heir apparent. The leadership also announced that the elite presidential guard protecting the Libyan leader had surrendered.
Libyan rebels battled their way towards Tripoli on Sunday to help fighters inside the city who rose up overnight declaring a final showdown with Muammar Gaddafi.
The Libyan leader dismissed the rebels, fighting since February to topple him, as “rats” and said he would not yield.
In a coordinated revolt that rebel cells had been secretly preparing for months, shooting started on Saturday night across Tripoli moments after Muslim clerics, using the loudspeakers on mosque minarets, called people on to the streets.
The Turkish government’s offensive against the Kurdish Workers Party or PKK has continued for a third night, with airstrikes against rebels in northern Iraq.