the nato secretary-general said, no, we are there to protect civilians. we're not there to attack forces in retreat. zain? >> cnn's paula newton reporting from brussels. libyan opposition fighters have been quick to take advantage of support and push government forces back. the rebels took the town of ras lanuf virtually without a fight and arwa damon is there with more. >> reporter: this is the gate to ras lanuf, heavily damaged but that we are told is initial fighting in gadhafi's forces and opposition fighters. the fighters saying when they came through here earlier they encountered no resistance, in fact, they say there was no sign of gadhafi's troops at all. this largely due or completely due in fact they will say to the air strikes that took place that forced dpad's military back significantly back with the fighters now saying they also control bin jawad. these have been very significant