Blasts shake Sirte, rebel advance halted

SIRTE: New Powerful explosions rocked the city of Sirte, a strategic target for the rebels including advancing to the hometown of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was arrested Monday.

The explosions Monday morning after two explosions Sunday night in the city, blamed by Libyan state television in an airstrike by coalition forces.

Sirte, 360 km (225 miles) east of Tripoli, is the next target of pro-democracy rebels pushing toward the capital from their stronghold in the east of Benghazi.

On Monday, the rebel advance was halted on the outskirts of Jawad Bin, about 140 kilometers (85 miles) east of Sirte.

The rebels on Sunday seized Jawad Bin after resuming the key oil city of Ras Lanuf as they advanced, with the support of air strikes on coalition forces Gaddafi.

But Monday, they came under heavy machine gun fire from supporters of the regime in pickups on the road to Jawad Bin Nofilia and beyond Sirte, the hometown of Libyan strongman.

Insurgents lured into Jawad Bin and opened heavy artillery.

The streets of Sirte, with a population of about 120,000 people, were quiet and deserted on Monday morning, and it was not immediately possible to determine whether night raids had caused any damage. (AFP)