Libya: NTC Troops Occupy Sirte As Gaddafi Loyalists Make Last Stand

Gaddafi Loyalists Make Last Stand In Sirte

The City of Sirte, one of Colonel Gaddafi’s last remaining strongholds, looks certain to fall following a day of fierce fighting in which troops for the National Transitional Council (NTC) captured the city centre.

The assault began no Friday, with NTC forces coming up against stern resistance, often forced to advance street by street.

The fighting has increasingly focused on the Ouagadougou conference centre, which has been barricaded by the loyalists as a last redoubt.

Snipers are reportedly operating from the conference centre and the surrounding buildings, which, along with machine gun placements, are so far keeping the NTC forces from swarming the building.

Speaking to the AFP News Agency, NTC fighter Faisal Asker, said: "We entered the Ouagadougou centre compound but fell back because of RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] and sniper fire - there's no cover there."

According to the BBC, the fighting has left 12 dead and more than 190 injured.

Sirte, Gaddafi’s birthplace, situated 200 miles east of the capital Tripoli, has remained fiercely defiant, despite the NTC taking control of the country more than two months ago.

NTC forces had encouraged the civilians to leave the city before the offensive began.

Thousands took the opportunity to evacuate, but many did not. Long queues now snake back towards the city from checkpoints as NTC troops check the identities of those fleeing the fighting.

Gaddafi’s whereabouts remain unknown, and though much of his family has fled to neighbouring states, some high ranking officials from the previous regime are believed to be in Sirte.

Speaking to the BBC, the NTC's Information Minister, Mahmoud Shamman, said that Sirte’s civilians are being "kept hostage by Gaddafi fighters".

On Friday, Colonel Gaddafi called on Libyans to "go out in new million-man marches" and resist the National Transitional Council in an audio message aired on Syrian TV.

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