gunfire and explosions rocked the capital today. rebels say they re making substantial gains in their fight to seize the capital. reuters reports thousands of rebels were seen closing in on tripoli today. nato says moammar gadhafi s regime is, quote, crumbling. the libyan government denies the rebels are making any gains. but a government official who asked not to be named concedes that parts of the capital and its suburbs are no longer in government hands. in an audio address broadcast on state tv today, gadhafi vowed to fight until, quote, the last blood drops from every man and woman. a fierce gun battle broke out today near the hotel where many international journalists are staying. cnn s senior international correspondent matthew chance joins us live by phone from tripoli. matthew, you were in that very hotel. tell us more about what s happening around it. reporter: fredricka, it s a very bad line. i don t know whether you can hear me right now. it s more than just a
towards the capital. this is the city of zawiya. on this day, even if you couldn t see the fire fight close up, you could hear its deafening sounds reverberating from the eastern part of the city. just getting too close. there are snipers on the tops of buildings. loud bangs. artillery fire. morta mortars. we ve got to get out of here. despite the major battle going on around him, a rebel fighter, who did not want to be identified to protect his family, was confident of victory. considering the fighting is to fierce here, how long before you think you re able to push into tripoli? hopefully a couple of days. or one week maybe. reporter: you think it s going to be that soon? i think so because we are, we are in control in 80% of zawiya. reporter: but to push forward, they need to secure the whole city where gadhafi s army is doing everything it can to keep hold of this town. why is zawiya so important? because of oil factory. reporter: zawiya has one of the last re