At least eight people were killed, a hospital official said.
Recapturing Ajdabiyah would give the Libyan military a staging ground to attack the opposition's main stronghold, Benghazi, about 160 km farther east along the coastal highway. Muammar Qadaffy's forces were approaching Benghazi when they were driven back by the international air campaign launched last month to protect civilians and ground Qadaffy's aircraft.
For the opposition, losing the city would effectively bottle them into a coastal strip of eastern Libya and allow government forces to more tightly squeeze the few pockets of resistance in the rest of the country, including the besieged western port of Misrata, where heavy festivities continued Saturday for a second day.
Fresh Initiatives for Peace Deal
The push into Ajdabiyah was launched even as international envoys opened fresh initiatives for a peace deal. The African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which had fragmented...
said it planned to send a team to Libya on Sunday to begin meetings with the government and opposition leaders.
The Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of mustache cursing...
announced it would host a conference on April 14 on Libya, which will be attended by UN Secretary-General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon and the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.Changed Tactics
The battle for Ajdabiya showed how Qadaffy's forces are adapting their strategies to NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants...
Small and mobile units -- less vulnerable to
A possible NATO
A helicopter gunship, flying the opposition flag and coming from the direction of Benghazi, passed over the city during the fighting. Separately, NATO warplanes intercepted a MiG-23 fighter jet operated by an air force pilot who had joined the opposition ranks, and forced him to land after he violated a UN-mandated no-fly zone, a NATO official said.
By nightfall, heavy gunfire was heard from apparent block-to-block combat inside the city, which had about 150,000 residents before many decamped for safer areas.
A resident leaving the city, Abdul Fatah, said gunbattles raged along the city's main street. A rebel fighter, Salah Ali, said Qadaffy's forces were "spreading out inside Ajdabiyah" with weapons including heavy machine guns and grenade launchers.
Still fighting in Misrata
In Misrata, opposition and government troops battled for the control of a key roadway linking the port -- a lifeline for opposition fighters and trapped civilians. A doctor said at least eight people had been killed.
The government attacks on Ajdabiya quickly changed the fortunes of rebels who had earlier sent units deeper toward the strategic oil port of Brega, 40 miles (65 kilometers) from Ajdabiya, and captured two soldiers loyal to Qadaffy.
It's unclear whether Qadaffy's troops would make a push of their own into the eastern town of Ajdabiya and risk coming under NATO
Most rebel forces pulled back to Ajdabiya when the shelling began, but later appeared to attempt a counteroffensive with heavy machine guns and rockets. Black smoke rose from parts of the town.
Earlier, rebels had pushed deeper toward Brega, a key prize in the back-and-forth battles with government forces.
Rebels say they took two prisoners after a clash with soldiers near Brega's Bright Star University, outside the government-controlled oil facilities, but it marks a noticeable advance by rebels struggling to push back Qadaffy's forces.
The eastern Libyan port has changed hands more than five times since the uprising against Qadaffy's rule began in February. The port and oil storage facilities are strategic for both sides.
Rebels have regrouped on the front lines after a mass retreat Thursday when NATO
In western Libya, the Red Thingy said a relief ship reached the only rebel-held city, Misrata, which was the scene of heavy battles on Friday.