Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has promised to fight any attempt to impose a no-fly zone on the country.

Muammar Gaddafi loyalists swept into the opposition-held city closest to Tripoli today, tightening security around the regime-held capital. To the east, rebel forces captured a key oil port as the country veered toward civil war.

Muammar Gaddafi’s forces today broke through rebel lines at an opposition-held city in a dawn attack that could prove crucial to the regime’s defence of the Libyan capital.

Muammar Gaddafi’s forces have launched a powerful attack in a bid to recapture a rebel-held city in fierce fighting which left at least 18 people dead.