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Libya's embattled government accused rebels and the NATO military alliance of carrying out a coordinated air, sea, and land attack on the strategic oil town of Brega on Thursday, the same day a government spokesman vowed to "die for oil."
In an unexpected late-night appearance before a hastily assembled group of journalists, a Libyan government spokesman called the attack "heavy, merciless and surprising."
CNN was not able to reach anyone from NATO or the Transitional National Council, based out of the opposition-held eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, to confirm reports of the Brega attack.
The government spokesman, Musa Ibrahim, also issued a warning that he said he hoped would make headlines around the world.
"We will die for oil. We will kill for oil," Ibrahim said. "We will kill everyone who comes near our oil. Rebels, NATO, we don't care. We will defend our oil to the last drop of blood that we have."
His comments came shortly after Gadhafi used similar imagery in pledging not to knuckle under to international demands that he cede the power he has held tightly for nearly 42 years, and instead said he would remain "until the last drop of my blood."
"It is impossible for me to leave my loyal people," he told an enthusiastic crowd numbering in the thousands in the western city of Ageelat, in a speech that was broadcast over state television.
"I will remain with my people and with my firearm until the last drop of my blood. We will win over this unjust campaign. We will win over the campaign of colonization, the campaign of hatred."
CNN