'Revolutionaries capture Tripoli airport'

Tripoli International Airport (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194921.html

Libyan revolutionary forces have reportedly taken control of Tripoli International Airport as they continue their march toward Muammar Gaddafi's last bastion, the center of the Libyan capital.

Revolutionary fighters are now in control of Tripoli airport, the Xinhua news agency reported late on Saturday.

Meanwhile, several explosions and exchanges of gunfire were heard on Saturday night in several areas of Tripoli, after people broke their dawn-to-dusk fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Tripoli residents said fighting had broken out in the eastern neighborhoods of Soug Jomaa and Arada.

Libyan revolutionary forces took control of the coastal city of Zawiyah, which is located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Tripoli on Saturday.

Revolutionary fighters said forces loyal to Gaddafi put up little resistance before fleeing their posts in Zawiya's hospital and multi-story buildings around the main square.

In February, Zawiyah witnessed the strongest uprising against the Gaddafi regime in western Libya.

But government forces crushed the uprising in a brutal assault that destroyed the town's main bridge.

Zawiyah is a strategic town for both sides as it straddles the main road to the Tunisian border -- the Libyan regime's main supply line.

There is also an important oil refinery in the city.

Libya has been the scene of intense fighting between government troops and revolutionary forces since a revolution seeking to topple Gaddafi began in mid-February.