Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters have been forced to retreat from the city of Sirte following strong resistance from loyalists to fugitive ruler Muammar Gaddafi, Press TV reported.
NTC fighters say they are preparing themselves for a fresh round of assaults on Gaddafi's birthplace, following the regrouping of the dictator's loyalists in Sirte, Press TV has learned.
The interim authorities also announced that they have uncovered a mass grave in the capital city of Tripoli, containing the bodies of 1,270 inmates killed by the Gaddafi regime in a prison massacre.
According to Dr. Ibrahim Abu Sahima of the interim government committee overseeing the search for victims of the former regime, the site was found near Tripoli's Abu Salim prison, where the victims were killed on June 26, 1996, after protesting conditions at the facility.
For the past two weeks anti-Gaddafi forces have been trying to enter his last remaining strongholds, Sirte and Bani Walid.
The rebels captured the capital, Tripoli and Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah compound last month.
Libya has been the scene of intense fighting between government troops and opposition fighters since the revolution seeking to topple Gaddafi began in mid-February.