SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Anti-Gaddafi fighters carry their wounded comrade during fighting at the frontline, in the north of the besieged city of Bani Walid September 16, 2011. (REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal)
Libya Fighting Rages in Bani Walid and Sirte
Casualties reported as NTC fighters push towards inland city and Gaddafi's hometown amid heavy fire from loyalists.
Sep 16, 2011
In an assault on Muammar Gaddafi's Mediterranean hometown, fighters loyal to the Libyan National Transitional Council are trying to fight their way into the city centre of Sirte from three fronts.
And fighters surged into into Bani Walid, another remaining Gaddafi bastion, in a campaign to break the back of regime holdouts.
NTC leaders described the offensive as a co-ordinated push to take Sirte - a city of about 100,000 people - from the south, east and west.
But their advance has been hindered by snipers among the loyalists of the toppled Libyan leader, as NATO warplanes flew overhead and smoke was seen rising from parts of the coastal city.
Meanwhile, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, is visiting Libya on Friday as part of his North African tour.
At least 11 NTC fighters have been killed and 34 wounded in the assualt on Sirte, according to a statement by the Misrata Military Council.
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Om Gandi, 90km from Sirte, said Gaddafi forces are reinforcing west of Harrawa towards Sirte.
"The latest information we have is that at the moment both sides are digging their heals around a town called Harrawa.
"One fighter who claims he came out of Sirte last night says revolutionary forces are controlling some areas inside Sirte. But the situation is quite dire for civilians there, he says. They are missing absolutely everything.
"He says they have been under siege by Gaddafi forces for at least three months."
A convoy of fighters had set out from Misrata, a port city, early on Thursday before splitting at the crossroads town of Abu Qurin, and a commander said they would approach Sirte in a pincer movement.
"We are turning the tables on Gaddafi. We were attacked in Misrata on three fronts, and now we're going to attack Sirte on three fronts," Fawzy Sawawy, commander of the Mountains Brigade, said.
Stiff resistance
Ali Gliwan, a member of the NTC's military council, said fighters who crossed a major highway overpass at the southwestern entrance of Sirte, were met by rocket fire from Gaddafi loyalists.
Jalal el-Gallal, a spokesman for Libya's new leaders, said several thousand fighters were involved, backed with tanks and mechanised vehicles.
The fighters advanced into the city centre, clashing with snipers holed up in a high-rise office tower - and with members of an elite unit of Gaddafi troops barricaded in a residence of the leader on the beach, Gliwan said.
He said four fighters on his side had been killed and seven wounded.
It was unclear how decisive the entry into Sirte was, however.
Last week, fighters claimed to have fought their way into another loyalist stronghold, Bani Walid, west of Sirte, but they were driven back by powerful resistance and their movement there has stalled.
Gaddafi's whereabouts remain a mystery, but his loyalists hold those two cities, the city of Sabha and other pockets in central and southern Libya.
The fresh assault came as the French and British leaders travelled to Libya on Thursday to congratulate the country's new rulers, the first visit by Western leaders since Gaddafi was ousted from power last month.
Gaddafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, criticised the joint visit to Tripoli by Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron, calling the aid provided by the two countries to the NTC a ploy "to get the oil and investments of Libya under the guise of reconstruction".
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In an assault on Muammar Gaddafi's Mediterranean hometown, fighters loyal to the Libyan National Transitional Council are trying to fight their way into the city centre of Sirte from three fronts.
And fighters surged into into Bani Walid, another remaining Gaddafi bastion, in a campaign to break the back of regime holdouts.
NTC leaders described the offensive as a co-ordinated push to take Sirte - a city of about 100,000 people - from the south, east and west.
But their advance has been hindered by snipers among the loyalists of the toppled Libyan leader, as NATO warplanes flew overhead and smoke was seen rising from parts of the coastal city.
Meanwhile, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, is visiting Libya on Friday as part of his North African tour.
At least 11 NTC fighters have been killed and 34 wounded in the assualt on Sirte, according to a statement by the Misrata Military Council.
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Om Gandi, 90km from Sirte, said Gaddafi forces are reinforcing west of Harrawa towards Sirte.
"The latest information we have is that at the moment both sides are digging their heals around a town called Harrawa.
"One fighter who claims he came out of Sirte last night says revolutionary forces are controlling some areas inside Sirte. But the situation is quite dire for civilians there, he says. They are missing absolutely everything.
"He says they have been under siege by Gaddafi forces for at least three months."
A convoy of fighters had set out from Misrata, a port city, early on Thursday before splitting at the crossroads town of Abu Qurin, and a commander said they would approach Sirte in a pincer movement.
"We are turning the tables on Gaddafi. We were attacked in Misrata on three fronts, and now we're going to attack Sirte on three fronts," Fawzy Sawawy, commander of the Mountains Brigade, said.
Stiff resistance
Ali Gliwan, a member of the NTC's military council, said fighters who crossed a major highway overpass at the southwestern entrance of Sirte, were met by rocket fire from Gaddafi loyalists.
Jalal el-Gallal, a spokesman for Libya's new leaders, said several thousand fighters were involved, backed with tanks and mechanised vehicles.
The fighters advanced into the city centre, clashing with snipers holed up in a high-rise office tower - and with members of an elite unit of Gaddafi troops barricaded in a residence of the leader on the beach, Gliwan said.
He said four fighters on his side had been killed and seven wounded.
It was unclear how decisive the entry into Sirte was, however.
Last week, fighters claimed to have fought their way into another loyalist stronghold, Bani Walid, west of Sirte, but they were driven back by powerful resistance and their movement there has stalled.
Gaddafi's whereabouts remain a mystery, but his loyalists hold those two cities, the city of Sabha and other pockets in central and southern Libya.
The fresh assault came as the French and British leaders travelled to Libya on Thursday to congratulate the country's new rulers, the first visit by Western leaders since Gaddafi was ousted from power last month.
Gaddafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, criticised the joint visit to Tripoli by Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron, calling the aid provided by the two countries to the NTC a ploy "to get the oil and investments of Libya under the guise of reconstruction".
In an assault on Muammar Gaddafi's Mediterranean hometown, fighters loyal to the Libyan National Transitional Council are trying to fight their way into the city centre of Sirte from three fronts.
And fighters surged into into Bani Walid, another remaining Gaddafi bastion, in a campaign to break the back of regime holdouts.
NTC leaders described the offensive as a co-ordinated push to take Sirte - a city of about 100,000 people - from the south, east and west.
But their advance has been hindered by snipers among the loyalists of the toppled Libyan leader, as NATO warplanes flew overhead and smoke was seen rising from parts of the coastal city.
Meanwhile, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, is visiting Libya on Friday as part of his North African tour.
At least 11 NTC fighters have been killed and 34 wounded in the assualt on Sirte, according to a statement by the Misrata Military Council.
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Om Gandi, 90km from Sirte, said Gaddafi forces are reinforcing west of Harrawa towards Sirte.
"The latest information we have is that at the moment both sides are digging their heals around a town called Harrawa.
"One fighter who claims he came out of Sirte last night says revolutionary forces are controlling some areas inside Sirte. But the situation is quite dire for civilians there, he says. They are missing absolutely everything.
"He says they have been under siege by Gaddafi forces for at least three months."
A convoy of fighters had set out from Misrata, a port city, early on Thursday before splitting at the crossroads town of Abu Qurin, and a commander said they would approach Sirte in a pincer movement.
"We are turning the tables on Gaddafi. We were attacked in Misrata on three fronts, and now we're going to attack Sirte on three fronts," Fawzy Sawawy, commander of the Mountains Brigade, said.
Stiff resistance
Ali Gliwan, a member of the NTC's military council, said fighters who crossed a major highway overpass at the southwestern entrance of Sirte, were met by rocket fire from Gaddafi loyalists.
Jalal el-Gallal, a spokesman for Libya's new leaders, said several thousand fighters were involved, backed with tanks and mechanised vehicles.
The fighters advanced into the city centre, clashing with snipers holed up in a high-rise office tower - and with members of an elite unit of Gaddafi troops barricaded in a residence of the leader on the beach, Gliwan said.
He said four fighters on his side had been killed and seven wounded.
It was unclear how decisive the entry into Sirte was, however.
Last week, fighters claimed to have fought their way into another loyalist stronghold, Bani Walid, west of Sirte, but they were driven back by powerful resistance and their movement there has stalled.
Gaddafi's whereabouts remain a mystery, but his loyalists hold those two cities, the city of Sabha and other pockets in central and southern Libya.
The fresh assault came as the French and British leaders travelled to Libya on Thursday to congratulate the country's new rulers, the first visit by Western leaders since Gaddafi was ousted from power last month.
Gaddafi's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, criticised the joint visit to Tripoli by Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron, calling the aid provided by the two countries to the NTC a ploy "to get the oil and investments of Libya under the guise of reconstruction".
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.