the BBC’s latest combat news from Libya

Dramatic events in Ras Lanouf:

1502: There have also been reports of new clashes to the east in Ras Lanouf. The AFP news agency says at least four people have died in violence near the town’s oil compound.

1505: Clearly a volatile situation in Ras Lanouf: Reuters is now reporting that rebels have taken the airport from government forces.

1511: An AFP correspondent has just spoken to a rebel retreating from Ras Lanuf. “[Government forces] are firing Grad rockets. I saw four people killed in front of me. A rocket hit them,” the rebel said. A helicopter was also hovering over the town, he added.

And an eyewitness report from Zawiya, where despite Libyan state TV reports, it sounds like the opposition has retained control.

1538: One resident of Zawiya has told the BBC about the assault on the city by Col Gaqddafi’s forces: “Today this morning about 1100 the Gaddafi forces started trying to get into Zawiya city from the west border, from the Suleyman side. They opened fire immediately… The crowd started to defend themselves and they tried to shoot them back but you know, the crowd bring us a lot of guns, a lot of weapons. A lot of people been died and more have been injured. Most of the injured people we couldn’t collect them because they opened fire on the ambulances so they took the injured and we don’t know what happened with them.”