BIN JAWWAD, Libya - Rebel forces on Monday fought their way to the doorstep of Muammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, a key government stronghold guarding the road to the capital Tripoli.

The lightning rebel advance of the past few days, backed by powerful Western air strikes, has restored to the opposition all the territory they lost over the past week and brought them to within 100 kilometers of this bastion of Gadhafi's power in the center of the country.

"Sirte will not be easy to take," said Hamdi Hassi, a rebel commander at the small town of Bin Jawwad, just 30 km from the front. "Now because of NATO strikes on (the government's) heavy weapons, we're almost fighting with the same weapons, only we have Grad rockets now and they don't."

Libya's rebels have recovered hundreds of km of flat, uninhabited territory at record speeds after Gadhafi's forces were forced to pull back by international air strikes.

Hassi said there was fighting now just outside the small hamlet of Nafouliya, 100 km from Sirte and scouting parties had found the road ahead to be heavily mined. He added that the current rebel strategy was to combine military assault with an attempt to win over some of the local tribes loyal to Gadhafi over to their side.

"There's Gadhafi and then there's circles around him of supporters, each circle is slowly peeling off and disappearing," Hassi said. "If they rise up it would make our job easier."

Witnesses in Sirte reported on Monday there had been air strikes the night before and again early in the morning, but the town was quiet, and dozens of fighters loyal to Gadhafi could be seen roaming the streets.

Moving quickly westward, the advance retraced their steps in the first rebel march toward the capital. But this time, the world's most powerful air forces have eased the way by pounding Gadhafi's military assets for the past week.

Sirte is strategically located about halfway between the rebel-held east and the Gadhafi-controlled west along the Mediterranean coast. It is a center of support for Gadhafi and is expected to be difficult for rebels to take.

West of Sirte is the embattled city of Misrata, the sole place in rebel hands in the country's west. Residents reported fighting between rebels and Gadhafi loyalists who fired from tanks on residential areas.

Rida al-Montasser, of the media committee of Misrata, said that nine young men were killed and 23 others wounded when pro-Gadhafi brigades shelled their position in the northwestern part of the city on Sunday night.

Associated Press