A CRACKDOWN BY troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has spread fear among residents of Tripoli as pressure grows for him to step down.

Tripoli, thought to be one of Gaddafi’s only remaining strongholds, is said to be tense as more anti-government protests are set to happen later today, reports the BBC.

Rebels say they are open to talks only if Gaddafi resigns and goes into exile, according to Reuters.

Fighters loyal to Gaddafi set up checkpoints in Tripoli as the opposition has called for protesters to march out of mosques after noon prayers in demonstrations demanding the leader step down after 41-years in power.

Similar protests last Friday were met by brutal retaliation when pro-regime militiamen opened fire immediately on the marches, killing and wounding a still unknown number.

In Tajura, an eastern district of the capital where protests a week ago were attacked, police set up two checkpoints on the main highway leading to downtown.

They stopped cars to search them, check drivers’ ID and ask where they were going or coming from. Another police car was set up not far from the district’s main Murad Agha Mosque.

The Guardian reports that there are increasing number of ‘disappearances’ of people thought to be rebels in this district.

“They call Tajura ‘the terrorist neighborhood’ because we dared to call for ousting Gaddafi,” one protester told Associated Press.

In the east of the country, relatives of those killed in the violence buried their victims, some as young as 13-years-old, according to Al Jazeera.

- additional reporting by AP