Lybian Rebels' Ranks Swelled by Recruits from Misurata

A TV grab taken from Al Arabiya channel on 23 August 2011, shows smoke rising in the sky from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi`s fortified Bab al-Aziziya compound, in Tripoli, Libya, 23 August 2011. EPA/BGNES

Hundreds of fighters from the town of Misurata have left for the Libyan capital Tripoli in order to join the rebel forces fighting to topple Libya's dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Intent on reaching Tripoli, hundreds of opposition fighters have left Misurata in a column of vehicles, Al Jazeera reported Tuesday evening.

In Zlitan, sporadic artillery fire from forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi held the rebels back, but not for long. About 50km away, fighters in the city rose at the same time as seismic events in Tripoli, the report says.

Along the road, other towns and villages also joined the list of places rising up against Gaddafi's forces.

However, poor communication is said to have prevented the people in the region around Misurata from learning on time that the rebels had overrun the Gaddafi compound in Tripoli earlier on Tuesday.

The reports about the rise-up of reinforcements for the rebels come just as the last functioning pro-Gaddafi TV-station reported that "tribal men" from the area of Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace, are flocking to join the regime loyalist forces still remaining in Tripoli.

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