Clashes between Libyan rebels and forces loyal to leader Moamer Gaddafi in the country's eastern cities have left at least 20 people dead Sunday, rebels said.
Fighting in Misurata city left at least 15 people dead and 38 injured, a protester based in Benghazi city told the German Press Agency dpa.
He said two foreign journalists were among those injured, including a French reporter who worked for France's 24 TV, he added, citing sources in Misurata.
Clashes continued as armed forces and tanks are still fighting to move inside Misurata. Gaddafi's security launched an airstrike over the city targeting a medical supplies storage facility and other government buildings which rebels had previously taken.
However, the opposition Libyan Youth Movement said that many people were out in the streets of the city celebrating after they arrested some pro-Gaddafi soldiers and seized a tank.
Fierce fighting has also erupted in the small town of Bin Jawad, some 100 kilometres east of Sirte, leaving at least five dead and 14 people injured.
However, rebels estimate the death toll will increase as fighting continues.
Gaddafi's forces are trying to regain control of cities which have been held by the rebels, while protesters are trying to advance westwards on Sirte, Gaddafi's heavily defended hometown.
The Libyan leader's brutal crackdown on the demonstrations has led to international condemnation, sanctions and an International Criminal Court investigation into alleged crimes against humanity.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said that Gaddafi has lost his credibility and "should leave." However, Juppe added that his country does not support military intervention in Libya.
Juppe said, during a visit in Cairo Sunday, that "France, and its partners, does not favor the option of military intervention in Libya."
Rebels said that the cities of Tobruk, Ras Lanuf and al-Buryqa remained under the control of anti-Gaddafi groups.
A witness in the oil-rich city said that forces loyal to Gaddafi paid residents of nearby villages money to be allowed to hide inside houses there, from where they could then attack anti-Gaddafi rebels.
In the capital, Tripoli, Gaddafi's supporters continued their celebrations after state television announced that government forces had recaptured the coastal cities in the east of the country and that calm had been restored.
The sound of gunshots and car horns rang out across Tripoli, as people carried Libya's green flag and fired shots in the air.
Violence has been ongoing in Libya since February 15, when widespread protests demanding Gaddafi's departure began. The death toll in the uprising is estimated at more than 1,000.
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