BENGHAZI, Libya - Rebels defended their positions on Monday in key western towns in the face of an offensive by Libyan leader Mummar Gadhafi's troops, holding on to strategic Bir Ghanam but suffering casualties in Zliten.

The rebels admitted they were running low on ammunition as they struggled to hold off an assault by loyalist forces in the town of Zliten, some 120 kilometers east of the capital Tripoli.

Abdul Wahab Melitan, a rebel spokesman in the port city of Misrata near Zliten, said forces loyal to Gadhafi had on Sunday launched an assault on their positions in the Souk Telat area, killing three and wounding 15.

"The rebels lack ammunition to advance and we do not want to risk losing any ground," Melitan said.

The rebels on Tuesday punched into the center of Zliten, sparking fierce clashes but later pulled back to the edge of the city.

NATO in Brussels said alliance warplanes hit eight targets in the Zliten area on Sunday - four command and control nodes, one military facility, a weapons dump, an anti-tank weapon and a multiple rocket launcher.

The alliance also hit four targets in the area of the eastern oil hub of Brega, including two tanks, and five targets in Tripoli - four of them anti-aircraft systems.

In the capital, Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmudi told reporters that government troops had recaptured the strategic town of Bir Ghanam to the southwest.

"Life is back to normal in Bir Ghanam, and today it is under the full control of the regime," he said.

But rebels controlled the town early on Monday, an AFP journalist said.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 08/09/2011 page12)