Pro-Gaddafi forces were locked in a fierce battle with rebels in Libya’s east to reclaim the lost territory as the regime scrambled hard to quell fresh protests in Tripoli, amid reports that at least 49 people were killed in the fighting and explosions in a military arms depot.

Rebel-held Az Zawiyah, just 50 km west of Tripoli, was the subject of a fierce assault by forces still loyal to 68-year-old Muammar Gaddafi. Heavy casualties were reported there and in other key cities, including the eastern port of Ras Lanuf.

Al-Jazeera quoting witnesses said today that at least 30 civilians were killed after security forces attempted to retake Az Zawiyah that has for days been defying Mr Gaddafi’s rule.

The rebellion in Az Zawiyah — the closest rebel-held territory to Mr Gaddafi’s bastion of Tripoli and also the site of an oil refinery — has been an embarrassment to the Libyan authorities who are trying hard to demonstrate that they control at least the west of the country.

Eastern regions of the country, around the city of Benghazi, have already fallen out of Mr Gaddafi’s control after a popular revolt against his 41-year rule which began in mid-February.

In another development, two explosions at a military arms depot outside the rebel-held city of Benghazi, which took place minutes apart, left at least 19 people dead and dozens injured, reports reaching here said.

It was not immediately known what caused the explosions, but hospital sources in Libya’s second-largest city said they believed the blasts were not triggered by an air strike by pro-Gaddafi forces in the region.

Mr Gaddafi’s warplanes had earlier attacked military bases overrun by rebels, though they had missed their targets.

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