Libyan rebels have attacked Bani Walid, one of the few towns still controlled by forces loyal to fugitive leader Moamer Gaddafi, the pro-rebel Free Libya TV reported Sunday.
The rebels had pushed 500 metres into the town centre, but then retreated to allow NATO aircraft to strike at least seven times at positions held by the Gaddafi forces around the town, according to the television report.
"Field commanders have told us to retreat because NATO will be bombing soon," the broadcaster quoted a rebel fighter as saying.
The alliance said Saturday its jet fighters were flying sorties over the desert town, DPA reported.
According to broadcaster Al Jazeera, the rebels captured some camps belonging to Gaddafi loyalists around the town.
"The revolutionaries are making advances on the southern outskirts of the town," rebel commander Mohamed Basheer, told the Doha-based television network on Sunday.
"They have reached key points there," he said, adding that the rebels advanced for one kilometre into the northern part of the town.
A deadline, given by Libya's interim rulers to pro-Gaddafi towns to surrender or face a fight, expired late Friday.
The rebels, who have already forced the Gaddafi regime out of the capital Tripoli and taken control of most of Libya, held key positions outside Bani Walid for over a week, as negotiations were held between the two sides in a bid to enter the town peacefully.
Bani Walid, south-east of Tripoli, is home to the Warfala, one of the biggest tribes in the North African country.