Muammar Gaddafi's forces and some residents fired at Libyan rebels on the road east of the Libyan leader's home city overnight, pushing them back towards the town of Bin Jawad, rebels said.

The rebel fighters had raced along the coastline retaking several oil towns after Western air strikes were launched. But their charge westwards has met resistance as they neared Sirte.

Dozens of rebel fighters and civilians were gathered with pick-ups and cars outside Bin Jawad, about 150 km (100 miles) from Sirte.   

"This is a problem road," said 28-year-old rebel officer Hamad al-Awani, who appeared to be in charge of the group. "Yesterday we were hit by Gaddafi so we pulled back."    

He said pro-Gaddafi forces used rockets, rocket propelled grenades and medium-calibre weapons to push back rebels gathered east of Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace and a military base.   

Other rebel fighters and their civilian supporters said they believed settlements on the approach to Sirte had posed a potential threat because their inhabitants backed Gaddafi.   

"The Gaddafi guys hit us with Grads (rockets) and they came round our flanks," said Ashraf Mohammed, a 28 year old rebel wearing a bandolier of machine gun bullets.   

Some residents of settlements near Nawfaliyah, 120 km east of Sirte, had fired on rebels from their houses in support of the pro-Gaddafi forces, who were now in Nawfiliyah, he said. - Reuters