Libyan rebels went on in their offensive in a bid to tighten grip around Tripoli, the stronghold of embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Libyan rebels went on in their offensive in a bid to tighten grip around Tripoli, the stronghold of embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Rebels said they have moved toward a western town that links the capital and Sirte, the hometown of Gaddafi and bastion of his military.
"The scouting teams of the revolutionaries reached the outskirts of Al-Heisha after expelling Gaddafi forces," the rebel military command said in a statement early on Wednesday.

Al-Heisha lies roughly 70km south of Misurata and 250km from Tripoli, near two key crossroads that link loyalist-held territory in the west with that in the oil-rich Sirte basin.

In addition to gaining a foothold in az-Zawiyah, rebels confirmed they had seized two towns near Tripoli on key supply roads Gharyan, 80 km south of the capital and Surman, less than 16 km west of Az-Zawiyah.
 
"Gharyan is fully in the hands of the revolutionaries," a rebel spokesman, Abdulrahman, said by telephone. "Gaddafi has been isolated. He has been cut off from the outside world."

GOVERNMENT CONFIRMS FIGHTERS IN GHARYAN
For his part, regime spokesman Moussa Ibrahim acknowledged in remarks broadcast on state television that rebel fighters were in Gharyan.
"There are still armed gangs inside the city. We are able to drive them out," he said.

However, as rebels controlled most of az-Zawiyah, Gaddafi forces shelled the city, wounding several civilians.
Funerals were held for 23 others who rebels said were killed the previous day.

On the other hand, an oil production engineer in az-Zawiyah, Nuri el-Bouaisi, said rebels had cut off pipelines that transport gasoline and diesel fuel to Tripoli.
"We shut down all four pipelines to Tripoli," El-Bouaisi said.