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TRIPOLI, Libya, March 29 (UPI) -- Troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi put up resistance against rebel fighters trying to advance into Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown, rebel leaders said. Opposition fighters said government forces planted land mines on the approaches to Sirte, slowing the rebel advance toward the last major pro-Gadhafi community between Bengazi and Tripoli, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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"It's a big fight from both sides," Rabia Abdullah, who had delivered rebel fighters and ammunition to the front, told the Times. "I just passed two cars destroyed by rockets."
U.S. Vice Adm. William Gortney said Monday opposition forces advanced west to within 80 miles of Sirte, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"We believe the regime is preparing to dig in at Sirte, setting up a number of checkpoints and placing tanks throughout the city," he said.
One person knowledgeable about the Libyan military command actions told the Journal government reinforcements were deployed to Sirte from several southern towns. Gortney said loyalist forces were reinforcing positions around Zintan, in western Libya.
The Los Angeles Times reported seeing at least four rebel flatbed trucks hauling T-72 tanks abandoned by Gadhafi's forces toward Benghazi while other rebel-driven vehicles hauled ammunition to the front at Sirte.
Witnesses said the damage inflicted by coalition airstrikes helped to level the fight between government forces and rebels. In Sirte, however, Gadhafi forces fired BM-21 Grad rockets and displayed better organization and firepower than the rebels.
Rebels in Bin Jawwad told the Times they now have Grad rocket systems abandoned by government forces. Other rebels told CNN Bin Jawwad was under heavy attack from government forces who had infiltrated the city, and CNN reporters observed rebels fleeing the area.
Libyan government officials have been downplaying reports of rebel gains, bringing foreign journalists from Tripoli to Misurata to show the government was in control there, the Journal reported. Journalists indicated much of Misurata, scene of intense fighting since the uprising began in mid-February, seemed either contested or under rebel control. A witness told CNN Libyan forces used tanks and heavy artillery Tuesday against the city. Coalition jets were seen circling overhead but they did not bomb the tanks, the witness said, adding Gadhafi's troops were killing civilians and evicting thousands of residents from their homes.
"The carnage and the destruction and the human suffering from both the evictions and ... terrorizing the city -- it's beyond imagination," the witness, an opposition councilman in Misurata, told CNN. "It's incredible."
Besides enforcing a no-fly zone and protecting Libyan citizens, the bombing campaign aims to foment discontent among Libyan commanders loyal to Gadhafi, officials said. U.S. officials say they hope the strikes will prompt commanders to turn against Gadhafi and jail him, kill him or expel him from Libya.
The Obama administration has implied charges could be brought against those who side with Gadhafi, viewed by observers as an attempt to create schisms in the Libyan leadership.
Because rebels have control of several oil-producing cities, a U.S. Treasury official said Monday oil exports by Libyan rebels wouldn't be subject to U.S. sanctions.
