Libya live blog March 6

Reporting by Karl Stagno-Navarra, Matthew Vella, Miriam Dalli and Nestor Laiviera.

01:04 Gaddafi forces have pushed rebels forces out of Bin Jiwad, But in  Misrata a town of 300,000 the rebels have managed to repel tanks and armoured carriers.  A number of soldiers allied to Gaddafi were also captured.

00:12 Libyans from Misrata, a rebel held town reported on Twitter that the battle in the city has left 18 dead including children.  Gaddafi led forces have been attempting rebel held territory.  Earlier on Sunday, helicopter gunships attacked the oil city of Ras Lanuf.  In spite of the superiority of loyal forces to Gaddafi, the rebels have managed to hold on to the towns they occupy.

17:00 Libya state TV said that loyal forces to Gaddafii had made gains and made inroads over rebel controlled areas.  But this was disputed by rebels and witnesses.

15.00 Britain would not comment over the detention of a group of SAS officers held in rebel controlled Benghazi. 

13.00 Italy's interior minister has called on the United States to restrain itself over Libya and leave Europe to deal with the crisis. Italian media reported today that interfering risked seeing a rise in Islamic fundamentalism.

12.15 Libyan commanders threatened to shoot down one of the RAF planes sent to rescue British citizens trapped inside isolated desert compounds. Brigadier James Bashall revealed in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph that part of the mission had to be aborted following threats by the Libyans.

Brig Bashall, 48, the commander of the Joint Force Headquarters (JFHQ) which planned the SAS rescue operation, said that had one of the Hercules C-130 transport aircraft been shot down or forced to land, it would have been a "strategic game changer" and the situation would have escalated into a crisis".

"It was a tense moment, we were flying into the unknown. The Libyan's once had formidable surface-to-air defences and they may still have.

"It worried me, given the Libyans capabilities, and I worried that they might not be as rationale as we imagined. Once the threat had been made I told the aircraft to turn around, I had no choice, but fortunately two others got through. All military operations involve risk – you are never going to get there for nothing."

11:15 Sustained gunfire has erupted in Tripoli. Until now, the area has been relatively free of violence. It is still unclear who was carrying out the shooting, which started at about 5:45am (0345 GMT). Automatic weapon rounds, some of it heavy calibre, echoed around central Tripoli along with pro-government chants and whistling and a cacophony of car horns, according to witnesses. News agency Aljazeera reinforced that a government spokesman denied any fighting was under way in Tripoli. "I assure you, I assure you, I assure you, I assure you, there is no fighting going on in Tripoli," Mussa Ibrahim said.

10:05 Libya's state television reports government forces have retaken the coastal cities of Zawiyah and Misrata, to the immediate west and east of Tripoli, and were also heading for Benghazi. It provided no details with regards to the gunfire shots. A government spokesman just said "I assure you... there is no fighting going on in Tripoli. Everything is safe. Tripoli is 100 percent under control. What you are hearing is celebratory fireworks. People are in the streets, dancing in the square."

09:58 Sustained gunfire has erupted in Tripoli, but it is still unclear who carried out the shooting. Automatic weapon rounds, some of it heavy calibre, echoed around central Tripoli along with pro-government chants and whistling and a cacophony of car horns as vehicles sped through the vicinity, witnesses said.