AJDABIYA, Libya — Libyan rebels regained control of the eastern gateway city of Ajdabiya on Saturday after international airstrikes crippled Moammar Gadhafi’s forces, in the first major turnaround for an uprising that once appeared on the verge of defeat. In a western city the opposition lost to Gadhafi, a resident said security agents had lists of rebel sympathizers and were dragging them from their homes.

Drivers honked in celebration and flew the tricolor rebel flag. Others in the city fired their guns into the air and danced on burned-out tanks that littered the road. Inside a building that had served as makeshift barracks for pro-Gadhafi forces, hastily discarded uniforms were piled on the floor.