TROOPS LOYAL to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have shelled an oil town in eastern Libya, pounding pockets of resistance during their swift advance on the country’s poorly equipped and loosely-organised rebels – and claiming they have “cleansed” the town of armed gangs.

Rebel officials in their stronghold of Benghazi told AP that Brega, the site of a major oil terminal about 170km along the coast from Tripoli, had come under heavy shelling earlier today, while Libyan state television reported that government troops had retaken the town.

That report was later verified by the BBC, who cited rebel leaders in stating that they had been forced out of the town.

The loss of Brega is the latest in a series of setbacks for opposition forces who just a week ago held the entire eastern half of the country and were charging toward Tripoli – but Gaddafi’s troops have reversed many of those early gains, bearing down on the rebels with superior firepower from the air.

The Libyan uprising has already proved much more violent than those of Egypt and Tunisia, and could be the start of a drawn out and bloody civil war.

Gaddafi’s forces had pushed the front line miles deeper into rebel territory Saturday to just 25 miles outside Brega. Today’s report declared the city has been “cleansed from armed gangs.”

As the government gained momentum, the Arab League unanimously backed a motion asking the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over the country, saying the Libyan government had “lost its sovereignty”.

The rebels have called for a no-fly zone as well, saying they are no match for the Gaddafi regime’s fighter jets.

Additional reporting by AP.