- Key locations
After more than 40 years in power, Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi is facing the greatest threat to his rule. Rebels control much of the east of the country and pockets of resistance are spread across the country.
Unrest broke out across Libya on 16 February after the arrest of a human rights lawyer. Events quickly escalated with rebels seizing control of several coastal cities and senior Libyan diplomats defecting overseas. Col Gaddafi is firmly in control of the capital Tripoli, and his forces have made gains against the rebels in areas east and west of the city.
Explore the maps by clicking on the tabs above to see who controls what and where the latest clashes have occurred.
Tripoli
19 March: The capital remains firmly under the control of Gaddafi forces. Supporters of the Libyan leader stage rallies on a daily basis. Col Gaddafi gives interviews to TV channels, and his ministers are seen at news conferences.
However, some residents tell the BBC that a sense of fear and paranoia hangs over the Libyan capital, the country's main commercial centre and home to more than a million people. They say government forces have gone door-to-door rounding up suspected opposition figures and several people have simply disappeared. All telephone communications are being carefully monitored and the internet has been down for about two weeks, they say. Reliable information - aside from the government propaganda on state TV - is hard to come by, they add.
Sirte
19 March: Earlier this month, a relentless government barrage blocked rebels advancing east from Misrata towards Col Gaddafi's strategic hometown of Sirte. Pro-Gaddafi troops also surrounded the city from the west and south, residents said. Sirte is located halfway between the capital Tripoli and the rebel headquarters in Benghazi. It had become a symbolic prize targeted by the rebels. The city of 135,000 people is home to many ministerial headquarters and other government institutions.
Zawiya
19 March: Zawiya, a major oil refinery town just west of Tripoli, has been the scene of some of the heaviest clashes so far. In a joint statement on 18 March, the US, Britain and France called on Col Gaddafi to pull his troops out of Zawiya - along with Misrata and Ajdabiya - and to restore water, electricity and gas services in all areas.
Zawiya, just 50km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, was one of the few western places to rise against Col Gaddafi. The centre of the town has been completely devastated in the recent fighting. Last week, members of a team of journalists from BBC Arabic who tried to reach Zawiya were captured, beaten and subjected to a mock execution.
Other towns
The rebels have also been defeated in the central towns of Bin Jawad, Ras Lanuf and Brega in the last two weeks, their mostly light weapons little match for Col Gaddafi's jets, tanks and army.
As Gaddafi forces pushed east from Sirte into rebel-held territory, Bin Jawad fell on 7 March, followed by the key oil town of Ras Lanuf - one of the main revenue-generating centres in the country - on 12 March and Brega a day later.
In the west, near Libya's border with Tunisia, the small town of Zuwara fell to pro-Gaddafi forces on 15 March, after government forces attacked the rebels with tanks. Security forces were then trying to round up anyone suspected of links to the rebels, a resident said.
This part of the country has traditionally been opposed to Col Gaddafi's rule, and large elements of the military switched to the rebel side. But Col Gaddafi's army have far greater resources, including an airforce, and have pushed the rebels back.
On Saturday, 19 March, forces loyal to Col Gaddafi began attacking Benghazi, the main rebel base and a city of more than 670,000 people.
With the battle for Benghazi under way, only the towns to east of it - including Bayda, Derna and Tobruk, near the border with Egypt - remain under rebel control. However, if Benghazi were to fall, these would appear defenceless.
Benghazi
19 March: Reports from Benghazi say forces loyal to Col Gaddafi are bombarding the city with rockets and heavy artillery. Reliable sources spoke of a pattern of loud explosions consistent with bombardment from tanks. Earlier, a fighter aircraft crashed inside the city, though it was unclear what had brought it down.
Hundreds of Benghazi residents have started to flee eastward, the AFP news agency reports, and information is scarce as some journalists have left the area for Tobruk, one of the easternmost towns, near the Libyan border with Egypt.
Pro-Gaddafi troops launched their first air raids on the rebel stronghold on Thursday. Benghazi is Libya's second city and in effect the rebel headquarters. Civilians set up the Transitional National Council there and have declared it the sole representative of the country.
Ajdabiya
19 March: Fighting raged around the disputed town of Ajdabiya on Friday, but rebels appeared to be holding out despite advances by government forces. Rebel leaders said that forces loyal to Col Gaddafi were hemming in the town on three sides, and shelling small villages on its outskirts. At least 30 people are said to have been killed in recent days and scores wounded. Many rebels have fled, but others have deployed heavy weapons and at least one fighter jet to push back government troops.
Ajdabiya is the last settlement of any size in the east on the road to Benghazi.
Misrata
19 March: Misrata - Libya's third-largest city and the last held by rebels in the west - has come under sustained assault despite the ceasefire announcement, residents say. Forces loyal to Col Gaddafi were firing artillery shells into the city on Saturday and water supplies were still cut off, a resident told Reuters news agency. Col Gaddafi's snipers were on rooftops and his forces were searching homes for rebels, a doctor told the Associated Press. He said he had counted 25 deaths at his hospital since Friday morning.
Unrest broke out across Libya on 16 February after the arrest of a human rights lawyer. Events quickly escalated with rebels seizing control of several coastal cities and senior Libyan diplomats defecting overseas. Col Gaddafi is firmly in control of the capital Tripoli, and his forces have made gains against the rebels in areas east and west of the city.
Explore the maps by clicking on the tabs above to see who controls what and where the latest clashes have occurred.
- Gaddafi control
Tripoli
19 March: The capital remains firmly under the control of Gaddafi forces. Supporters of the Libyan leader stage rallies on a daily basis. Col Gaddafi gives interviews to TV channels, and his ministers are seen at news conferences.
However, some residents tell the BBC that a sense of fear and paranoia hangs over the Libyan capital, the country's main commercial centre and home to more than a million people. They say government forces have gone door-to-door rounding up suspected opposition figures and several people have simply disappeared. All telephone communications are being carefully monitored and the internet has been down for about two weeks, they say. Reliable information - aside from the government propaganda on state TV - is hard to come by, they add.
Sirte
19 March: Earlier this month, a relentless government barrage blocked rebels advancing east from Misrata towards Col Gaddafi's strategic hometown of Sirte. Pro-Gaddafi troops also surrounded the city from the west and south, residents said. Sirte is located halfway between the capital Tripoli and the rebel headquarters in Benghazi. It had become a symbolic prize targeted by the rebels. The city of 135,000 people is home to many ministerial headquarters and other government institutions.
Zawiya
19 March: Zawiya, a major oil refinery town just west of Tripoli, has been the scene of some of the heaviest clashes so far. In a joint statement on 18 March, the US, Britain and France called on Col Gaddafi to pull his troops out of Zawiya - along with Misrata and Ajdabiya - and to restore water, electricity and gas services in all areas.
Zawiya, just 50km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, was one of the few western places to rise against Col Gaddafi. The centre of the town has been completely devastated in the recent fighting. Last week, members of a team of journalists from BBC Arabic who tried to reach Zawiya were captured, beaten and subjected to a mock execution.
Other towns
The rebels have also been defeated in the central towns of Bin Jawad, Ras Lanuf and Brega in the last two weeks, their mostly light weapons little match for Col Gaddafi's jets, tanks and army.
As Gaddafi forces pushed east from Sirte into rebel-held territory, Bin Jawad fell on 7 March, followed by the key oil town of Ras Lanuf - one of the main revenue-generating centres in the country - on 12 March and Brega a day later.
In the west, near Libya's border with Tunisia, the small town of Zuwara fell to pro-Gaddafi forces on 15 March, after government forces attacked the rebels with tanks. Security forces were then trying to round up anyone suspected of links to the rebels, a resident said.
- Rebel control
This part of the country has traditionally been opposed to Col Gaddafi's rule, and large elements of the military switched to the rebel side. But Col Gaddafi's army have far greater resources, including an airforce, and have pushed the rebels back.
On Saturday, 19 March, forces loyal to Col Gaddafi began attacking Benghazi, the main rebel base and a city of more than 670,000 people.
With the battle for Benghazi under way, only the towns to east of it - including Bayda, Derna and Tobruk, near the border with Egypt - remain under rebel control. However, if Benghazi were to fall, these would appear defenceless.
- Recent clashes
Benghazi
19 March: Reports from Benghazi say forces loyal to Col Gaddafi are bombarding the city with rockets and heavy artillery. Reliable sources spoke of a pattern of loud explosions consistent with bombardment from tanks. Earlier, a fighter aircraft crashed inside the city, though it was unclear what had brought it down.
Hundreds of Benghazi residents have started to flee eastward, the AFP news agency reports, and information is scarce as some journalists have left the area for Tobruk, one of the easternmost towns, near the Libyan border with Egypt.
Pro-Gaddafi troops launched their first air raids on the rebel stronghold on Thursday. Benghazi is Libya's second city and in effect the rebel headquarters. Civilians set up the Transitional National Council there and have declared it the sole representative of the country.
Ajdabiya
19 March: Fighting raged around the disputed town of Ajdabiya on Friday, but rebels appeared to be holding out despite advances by government forces. Rebel leaders said that forces loyal to Col Gaddafi were hemming in the town on three sides, and shelling small villages on its outskirts. At least 30 people are said to have been killed in recent days and scores wounded. Many rebels have fled, but others have deployed heavy weapons and at least one fighter jet to push back government troops.
Ajdabiya is the last settlement of any size in the east on the road to Benghazi.
Misrata
19 March: Misrata - Libya's third-largest city and the last held by rebels in the west - has come under sustained assault despite the ceasefire announcement, residents say. Forces loyal to Col Gaddafi were firing artillery shells into the city on Saturday and water supplies were still cut off, a resident told Reuters news agency. Col Gaddafi's snipers were on rooftops and his forces were searching homes for rebels, a doctor told the Associated Press. He said he had counted 25 deaths at his hospital since Friday morning.
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