A military spokesman for the National Transitional Council (NTC) has said the troops came under heavy fire from fighters loyal to the ousted leader.
«They have now entered the city,» said Abdulrahman Busin, spokesman for the NTC.
«There was a coordinated push from the south, east and west and from along the coast. I’m not sure how far they have been able to enter.
«They are coming under heavy fire. There is a particular problem with snipers.»
After nearly seven months of fighting, NTC forces backed by Nato air power control most of Libya, including oil-producing centres and the capital Tripoli, which they seized last month.
They have met fierce resistance in a handful of pro-Gaddafi strongholds such as Sirte, the desert town of Bani Walid and southern outpost of Sabha.
Gaddafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court, has also gone into hiding and is rumoured to be hiding in one of the loyalist strongholds.
Britain and France are expected to press for a new United Nations Security Council resolution on Libya today, in the wake of the historic visit to the country by David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy.
The motion – expected to be put to a vote later – would give the NTC access to more of the frozen Libyan assets and lift the no-fly zone.
But it could encounter trouble from Russia, which has complained that the UK and France went beyond the previous resolution 1973 in trying to eject former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Prime Minister Mr Cameron and President Sarkozy received a hero’s welcome on Thursday as they visited the capital Tripoli, then addressed a jubilant crowd in Benghazi.
Less than four weeks after Gaddafi was deposed, the two architects of Nato air strikes against his regime flew in to demonstrate their support for the fledging new government which has replaced him.
At a joint news conference in Tripoli, they pledged continued assistance to the country Mr Cameron called «free Libya», including stepping up efforts to unfreeze assets held overseas.
In Benghazi’s Freedom Square the pair were given an ecstatic reception by a crowd waving British and French flags alongside the old Libya flag adopted by the anti-Gaddafi rebels.
Source: news.sky.com