Libyan rebels said on Saturday March 26, 2011, that they have retaken the eastern town of Ajdabiya

Insurgents have been celebrating amid the ruins of tanks and artillery pieces left behind after air strikes. Gaddafi loyalists seized the town last week as they advanced east to quell an uprising which began in mid-February.

Gadhafi's forces have withdrawn from Ajdabiya, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said shortly after rebels touted victory in Ajdabiya, considered a gateway to Libya's oil fields and a key stopping point on route to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Opposition fighters took control of Ajdabiya overnight after coalition fighter jets again bombed Libyan tanks that have been entrenched at the city's northern and western gates for days, opposition spokesman Jalal al-Gallal said.

At the northern entrance, damaged tanks lay strewn across the rolling desert. The buildings around the city entrances were riddled with bullet holes.