Libyan rebels take key oil town from loyalists: claim

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Libyan rebels were claiming victory over forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in the battle for Brega after fierce fighting raged around the strategic oil town on Saturday, an AFP journalist reported.

Although there was no immediate confirmation of the claim, the correspondent at the scene witnessed seven bodies of pro-Gaddafi fighters and at least 10 burnt-out army pick-up trucks along the road around the eastern suburb of New Brega.

A crater, five metres wide and two metres deep (16 feet wide and six deep), close by the wrecked trucks, seemed to suggest the convoy had been destroyed in an overnight air attack by NATO planes.

Fighting appeared to have subsided on Saturday morning on the outskirts of the town and only the sound of NATO fighters flying overhead disturbed the calm.

Several residents told AFP that the rebel forces had recaptured the town and were trying to seek out a group of pro-Gaddafi snipers who were still active.

Brega, 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of Tripoli, has been the scene of intense exchanges over the past few days when pro-Gaddafi forces returned after being driven out by the rebels.

But it has been unclear since Thursday who actually held the town with the rebel forces regrouping in Ajdabiya, 80 kilometres (50 miles) to the east.