(Photo via Creative Commons)

Rebel soldiers reached the town of Zawiya, the closest they have been yet to Tripoli, where Gaddafi has been ruling from since conflict broke out in Libya earlier this year. The oil town is 30 miles west of Gaddafi's stronghold, which has given rebel leaders a chance to cut off the dictator.

"We are closing the roads for Gadhafi so there is no way for him to bring anything to Tripoli," Jumma Dardira, a rebel commander in Zawiya, said.

With the rebels advancing from the west and south of Tripoli, only one of Gaddafi's supply routes remain--one that runs into Tunisia.

In an attempt to disperse rebel forces, Libyan soldiers fired a scud missile at the advancing line, according to U.S. military officials. However, government officials said the missile hit near the rebel stronghold of Brega, another important oil town, and hurt no one.

Now rebel forces are saying they'll have toppled Gaddafi from power by the end of the holy month of Ramadan, a major Muslim holiday, less than two weeks away.

"Our forces totally control Zawiyah, which will open the way to Tripoli," the rebels' ambassador to France Mansur Saif Al-Nasser said in a radio interview. "This will allow the population there to revolt...Soon we will liberate all of southern Libya. We hope to celebrate the final victory at the same time as the end of Ramadan."