Libyan rebels today moved into the strategic eastern town of Ajdabiya, after a barrage of Western air strikes ousted Colonel Muammer Gaddafi's forces there, AFP reporters said.
The rebels powered into the town, leaving a trail of destroyed tanks and military vehicles along the road, in many cases the skeletons sitting next to huge craters left behind by powerful aerial strikes a day earlier.
"The tanks were firing on the houses non-stop. I couldn't move from my house for days," resident Ibrahim Saleh, 34, told AFP. "There was no water or fuel or communications, and when people went out even to get fuel they were fired on.
"The coalition air strikes were yesterday and the day before. They attacked from the skies and the revolutionaries came in afterwards and freed the city," he said.
Defensive positions previously held by pro-Gaddafi forces stood deserted on Saturday morning as rebels rolled in, tooting car horns and flashing the "V" for victory sign.
The roads were clear of any armoured forces loyal to Gaddafi, and the town's western gate was open as people poured into the town.
But many arriving from as far away as Brega, 80 kilometres to the west, reported having seen no sign of the fighters along the route, and the rebels had reportedly set up a new position about 40 kilometres west of Ajdabiya.
The bodies of at least two pro-Gaddafi fighters lay on the ground, surrounded by onlookers. One of the men, his body covered by blanket that bystanders whisked off to take photos, was missing most of his face.
At the entrance to the city on the road from Benghazi, the rebel's coastal stronghold, a mosque and many houses bore the scars of heavy shelling as the rebels celebrated, firing shots into the air and shouting "God is greater."
Regime loyalists had dug in after turning back from the road to Benghazi following the first coalition air strikes. They were accused by residents of brutalising the population.
