Mar. 17, 2011 (United Press International) -- Libyan rebel forces used tanks, artillery and a helicopter to repel forces supporting leader Moammar Gadhafi in the rebel-held town of Ajdabiya, witnesses said.
Gadhafi's troops, meanwhile, said they have Ajdabiya under their control and will move next to Benghazi, the rebel headquarters, the BBC reported Thursday.
Elsewhere, the United States urged the United Nations to take action in Libya, which rights groups say has degenerated into a civil war, including consideration of a no-fly zone. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said a no-fly zone would bring only limited help.
The United States initially has been unenthusiastic about a no-fly zone, but Rice said the no-fly zone, along with other measures, were needed. Russia expressed concern about imposing a no-fly zone and its implications, and has offered a counter-resolution that calls for a cease-fire first.
The International Committee of the Red Cross withdrew from Benghazi, about 100 miles from Ajdabiya, saying it feared an imminent attack by Gadhafi forces.
The U.N. resolution includes language authorizing all necessary measures to protect civilians, which some diplomats have interpreted as allowing strikes against government ground forces if civilians are under attack, the BBC said.
Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's ambassador to the United Nations who left the Gadhafi regime, warned about violence escalating quickly.
"In the coming hours we will see a real genocide if the international community does not act quickly," he said Wednesday.
One of Gadhafi's sons, Saif al-Islam, has claimed Benghazi would be recaptured even if a no-fly zone is imposed, The Daily Telegraph reported.
"Everything will be over in 48 hours," he told news outlets.
"We don't want to kill; we don't want revenge. But you -- traitors, mercenaries -- you have committed crimes against the Libyan people," he said. "Leave. Go in peace to Egypt."
As pro-Gadhafi forces battled rebels in Ajdabiya, witnesses in Benghazi indicated warplanes began targeting the city's airfield in preparation for a full attack, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported.
In a message to residents delivered by state-run television, the army said a "humanitarian operation (is) being undertaken in your interests, and is not aimed at taking revenge against anyone."
Government forces renewed their attacks on Misurata, which has been in rebel hands since the start of the uprising.
Meanwhile, the fate of four New York Times journalists last seen Tuesday in Libya is unknown.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration "strongly urges the governments in the entire region -- in this case, those in Libya -- to protect journalists, allow them to do their work, do not harass or in any way detain or use violence against journalists."