Head of the National Transitional Council military command centre, Salem Gheith says the NTC forces lost 17 fighters in fierce clashes with Moamer Gaddafi loyalists on Sunday and “our forces have withdrawn from the airport where they had taken control,".

The military spokesman for Libya's new leadership said NTC fighters also pulled back late on Sunday from forward positions in the town, 170 kilometres (105 miles) southeast of Tripoli, in what he termed a "tactical pullback."

"We've received reinforcements from Tripoli and the Nafusa mountains, and we will resume the offensive," he said.

Yunes Mussa, the NTC commander for the region, announced the capture of the airport on Sunday, before the fightback by pro-Gaddafi forces in Bani Walid, a holdout of the fallen strongman along with his hometown Sirte.