Libya: rebels 'capture Wazin post' on Tunisian border

Libyan rebels have overrun a post on the Tunisian border in a rare advance against government troops in the west of the country, reports say.

The reported capture of the Wazin crossing follows instense fighting in the area.
Witnesses said dozens of Libyan soldiers had turned themselves over to the Tunisian military at the border.
The rebels control much of eastern Libya. Fighting is continuing in the besieged western city of Misrata.
AFP news agency said the rebels seized the Wazin post after up to 100 pro-Gaddafi soldiers, including officers, fled to Tunisia on Thursday.
The post lies on the main road linking the Libyan town of Nalut to Dehiba, on the Tunisian border.
Tunisia's state-run TAP news agency said 13 Libyan soldiers, including a general, had turned themselves over to the Tunisian military.
A witness speaking from the Tunisian side told Reuters that dozens of government soldiers had surrendered.
"We see rebels who control the border crossing," he told Reuters news agency by phone.
Rebel leader Shaban Abu Sitta told the Associated Press that the crossing had been taken after three days of intense battles with government soldiers outside Nalut.

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He said the rebels had seized cars and weapons from the government troops, and destroyed 30 trucks.

If confirmed and maintained, the capture of the border post could open up a new supply route for the rebel fighters.
But a doctor with Tunisia's Red Crescent said there was concern among officials it could also lead to a new wave of refugees into Tunisia.
"The main worry now is an influx of families fleeing the fighting," Dr Mongi Slim told AP.
"Before, when the post was under the control of the pro-Gaddafi forces, people had been crossing on little paths. But now it will be much easier."
Tens of thousands of people fled into Tunisia in the early stages of the fighting, creating a humanitarian crisis on the border.
Meanwhile, Libya's Jana state TV has reported that Nato forces have captured a Libyan oil tanker, in what it described as "a barbaric piracy operation".
It gave no details on where or when the alleged incident took place.
Nato is enforcing a naval blockade of Libya, as part of the international effort to prevent arms and mercenaries from entering the country.
Exhausted doctors Thursday morning also saw further fighting in Misrata. An opposition spokesman said mortar fire had killed three rebels there.
On Wednesday, two journalists died in a mortar attack in the city - Tim Hetherington, a British-American filmmaker and Chris Hondros, an American photographer.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said he was "very sad" about the deaths, but that warfare always involved casualties.
A Ukrainian doctor was also killed in a separate artillery blast in Misrata on Wednesday. The doctor's wife was reported to have been seriously injured in the incident.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, visiting the Ukraininan capital Kiev, has expressed his "deepest condolences" and admiration for the couple.

The BBC's Orla Guerin in Misrata said the hospital there had received more than 100 casualties on Wednesday, the vast majority of them civilians. The hospital said five civilians had been killed.
One doctor at Misrata hospital told our correspondent that he and his colleagues were exhausted and asked where the international community was.
Efforts are continuing to evacuate civilians from Misrata by sea.
The International Organization for Migration said a ship carrying 1,000 evacuated migrant workers and several injured Libyans was due to arrive in Benghazi on Thursday evening.
The bodies of the two journalists are also in board.
IOM has called for more funding to help deal with the "increasing numbers of desperate stranded migrants and third country nationals" expected to arrive in Misrata in the hope of evacuation.
Inspired by uprisings in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt, Libyan rebels have been fighting Col Gaddafi's forces since February.
The rebels, based in Benghazi, hold much of the east, while Col Gaddafi remains in control of Tripoli and most of the west.
The rebel Transitional National Council rejected the government's latest offer of a ceasefire on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the council, Abdul Hafeez Ghoga, said Col Gaddafi wanted a ceasefire because his forces were being destroyed by Nato air strikes.
France, Italy and the UK have said they are sending military officers to Benghazi to advise the rebels, who have been unable to capitalise on pro-Gaddafi losses.
On Thursday, the government foreign ministry warned there would be "consequences" to such a move.
curtsy-BBC