![]() Witnesses who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone with gunfire and explosions in the background said the shelling damaged government buildings and homes. The rebels vowed to keep up the fight in the city. The number of tanks that entered the city is big," the rebel in Zawiya said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he feared government reprisal. The storming of Zawiya, a city of some 200,000 people just 30 miles west of Tripoli, began with a surprise dawn attack by pro-Qaddafi forces firing mortar shells and machine guns. President Barack Obama has insisted that Qaddafi must leave and said Washington was considering a full range of options, including the imposition of a "no-fly" zone over Libya. Qaddafi has drawn international condemnation for his actions. The crisis in Libya has distinguished itself from the other uprisings sweeping the Arab world, with Qaddafi unleashing a violent crackdown against his political opponents, who themselves have taken up arms in their attempt to remove him from office after ruling the country for more than 41 years. Western leaders focused on humanitarian aid instead of military intervention, and the Italian naval vessel Libra left from Catania, Sicily, for the rebel-held port of Benghazi in eastern Libya, with 25 tons of emergency aid, including milk, rice, blankets, emergency generators, water purifying devices and tents. ![]() ![]() An eyewitness told al-Arabiya that a platoon of 30 tanks accompanied by 40 army jeeps entered the heart of Zawiya just before sunset, and all but one tank were chased out of the city one tank commander was allegedly captured. ![]()
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