20110711
presstv
The troops loyal to embattled Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi have launched a counterattack against the revolutionary forces southwest of the capital, Tripoli.

The counterattack took place near the town of Gualish on Sunday. Regime forces fired half a dozen Grad rockets into the troubled region.

The revolutionary forces tried to repel regime forces with anti-tank fire.

The mountainous town was seized by the revolutionary forces just days ago, in their push toward the capital.

The latest fighting follows an advance by the revolutionaries on the western town of Zliten.

"When we take Zliten, enforced with Misratah, it gives us a clear path to Tripoli," AFP quoted an opposition spokesman as saying.

Libya has been the scene of intense fighting between government troops and revolutionary forces since mid-February.

Tripoli and some western provinces remain under Gaddafi's control while the revolutionaries hold Benghazi, most of the east and several western cities.

The bloody conflict has left thousands of people dead and many others wounded.

Revolutionary forces want an end to Gaddafi's decades-long rule.

NATO has also recently intensified its attacks on Libya in an alleged attempt to increase pressure on Gaddafi.

The US-led military alliance has admitted that its forces have killed scores of civilians and wounded many others in the ongoing aerial attacks on key Libyan cities.