For more than a week, Libyan opposition fighters have remained stuck on a nearly static front line east of Zlitan, a major town on the road from Misurata to Tripoli. Rebels and troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi trade rocket and gun fire every day, and casualties are mounting.
Residents of Zlitan are reportedly ambivalent about rebel troops overrunning their town, worrying that the presence of opposition forces would bring them under fire from the regime's army.
In the meantime, the deadly stalemate on the road to Zlitan continues.
Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from outside Zlitan.
