Heading into battle in Sirte.
Fighters of the National Transitional Council enter the hometown of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi but have yet to reach the city center where Gaddafi loyalists are maintaining their position.
There are reports that those forces have been executing those suspected of sympathizing with Libya's new rulers.
Residents are fleeing the city.
Many originally from Misrata say they have been targeted in revenge for the city's fierce resistance during the uprising.
SOUNDBITE: Sirte resident Mohammed Abdullah, originally from Misrata, saying: (Arabic):
''With regards to us, the people of Misrata, they've started killing us. Today they killed a number of people, they were martyred, they killed them on the streets."
Despite support from NATO warplanes, government forces have struggled to capture Sirte, the biggest of the towns still outside their control.
Gaddafi's spokesman told Reuters on Thursday that NATO air strikes and interim government forces' shelling of Sirte were killing civilians. The report could not be confirmed by Reuters
Anti-Gaddafi forces also continue to fire on Bani Walid, another of the remaining Gaddafi strongholds.
Libya's new government is still struggling to assert its authority one month after its fighters seized control of the capital. They say preparations are underway for a coordinated assault on Bani Walid in the coming days.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.
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