Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi launched a fierce counter-attack in the fugitive ex-Libyan leader’s stronghold of Bani Walid yesterday while putting up fierce resistance in his hometown of Sirte.
Only 10 cars with men go in at a time while hundreds hang back away from the front line shouting God is greatest
They fired rockets and scored casualties, when they shelled a position of interim government fighters several kilometres from the city centre.
“They swept the position after targeting us with Grad rockets,” said National Transitional Council fighter Omar Ali Ramadan, who said he and others had managed to take cover at an abandoned house.
“At least seven rockets hit our position.”
An AFP reporter saw at least three wounded people being carried in to a field hospital, one of whom subsequently died amid cries of Allahu Akbar (God is greatest).
In Bani Walid, another AFP reporter quoted medical and NTC sources as saying six NTC fighters were killed last Friday and 20 wounded in the oasis town, 180 kilometres south-east of the capital.
The NTC said its fighters had entered Bani Walid, but they made a “tactical withdrawal” last Friday evening due to sniper fire.
“It is useless to hold on to positions overnight in a hostile environment,” a commander had told AFP.
In Sirte, NTC forces swept further into the city before retreating under heavy artillery fire after two hours of clashes. At least 6,000 fighters battled in and around one of the ousted Kadhafi’s final strongholds.
“The situation at the roundabout is pitiful. There is no central command, we are retreating to regroup and re-enter again from three fronts,” said Al-Dhahira Brigade commander Saleb Abu Shaala.
Abu Shaala said the clashes erupted at about 10.30 a.m. (8.30 a.m. GMT) and that Gaddafi’s forces used heavy artillery and rockets against them.
Doctors at a field hospital reported at least 10 killed and 40 wounded in the fighting in Sirte.
Commander Salem Jeha, a member of Misrata Military Council, told AFP that “we are now concentrated in a handful of buildings in the city and on the outskirts including Wadi Abu Hadi, where Gaddafi’s forces are concentrated.”
He said NTC combatants seized Sirte airport late on Friday, a claim disputed by one fighter, and added that there was “no possibility for them (Gaddafi’s forces) to continue their resistance.”
Abdel Nasser al-Sheikh, also of the Misrata Military Council, charged that Kadhafi troops “are firing from the Bin Hamal mosque. We cannot attack this place.”
“There is progress but snipers remain a problem,” said fighter Fatha Allah.
“We reached up to the city centre but there are families there.”
Front-line fighters and commanders gave contrasting reports of progress in Sirte, with men on the ground acknowledging they were facing a tough enemy and those in charge downplaying the pockets of resistance.
“We don’t even have five per cent of Sirte because we just go in and out,” said fighter Abdul Rauf al-Mansuri.
He said that despite the massive deployment of armed vehicles in and around the town only a minority of the men were doing the heaviest of the fighting.
“Only 10 cars with men go in at a time while hundreds hang back away from the front line shouting God is greatest,” he said.
Mansuri added that after night-time clashes NTC forces did not control the airport and that they had also lost their advantage by pulling back at night, giving Gaddafi’s men time to rearm.
While the former rebels gained major political victories last Friday with an easing of UN sanctions and receiving Libya’s UN seat, they have yet to dominate the battlefield completely.
Jeha told AFP there were some 1,200 NTC armed vehicles and thousands of fighters, mostly from Misrata, in the Sirte area.
“There may be houses and pockets of resistance, but they will not be able to overcome the rebels’ massive forces,” he said, adding that he had received reports that half of the city’s civilians had fled.
Jeha added: “This matter is sealed, it’s over. Our focus will now shift to free the south.”