I’d be shocked if Gaddafi’s regime falls, then again, I said the same thing about Mubarak.

(Reuters) — Members of a Libyan army unit told Benghazi residents on Sunday they had defected and “liberated” Libya’s second city from troops supporting veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi, two residents said.

Habib al-Obaidi, who heads the intensive care unit at the main Al-Jalae hospital, and lawyer Mohamed al-Mana, told Reuters members of the “Thunderbolt” squad had arrived at the hospital with soldiers wounded in clashes with Gaddafi’s personal guard.

“They are now saying that they have overpowered the Praetorian Guard and that they have joined the people’s revolt,” al-Mana said by telephone. It was not possible to independently verify the report.

Obaidi said the bodies of 50 people killed on Sunday had arrived at the hospital in the late afternoon. Most had died from bullet wounds.

Sunday’s bloodshed follows the deaths of scores of protesters on Saturday in one of the most violent days since protests began sweeping through the Arab world two months ago.