TRIPOLI, Libya - Fighters backing Libya's interim rulers prepared to renew their advance into the coastal city of Sirte on Monday after NATO aircraft bombed targets in Muammar Gadhafi's hometown to sap the resistance of the deposed leader's troops.

Anti-Gadhafi forces had pushed to within a few hundred meters of the center of Sirte, one of the last bastions of pro-Gadhafi resistance in Libya, but drew back on Sunday while NATO aircraft launched their attacks.

Sirte lies between the capital Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi, both now held by the National Transitional Council (NTC), whose fighters toppled Gadhafi last month, six months into a campaign that is not yet over.