Intense fighting outside main Gaddafi base in Sirte

World

Intense fighting outside main Gaddafi base in Sirte

Close

Libyan fighters have assaulted the main Gaddafi base in Sirte.

07 October,2011 10:32 pm

Revolutionary fighters on Friday assaulted a convention center in the heart of Sirte that forces loyal to Moammar Gaddafi turned into their main base, in what commanders said was a final offensive to crush resistance in the holdout city after weeks of siege.The forces of Libyas new rulers were pushing into the Mediterranean coastal city from the west, east and south in heavy fighting, trying to squeeze Gaddafi loyalists into a smaller and smaller perimeter. The two sides battered each other with rockets, mortar shells and tank fire, as Gaddafi snipers fired down on fighters advancing through housing complexes. Fridays push marks the largest new assault on the city for weeks.Smoke drifted over the skyline and explosions thundered throughout the city, as long lines of residents fleeing by car formed at revolutionary forces checkpoints.Fighters entering through the western gate quickly advanced to within just a mile (two kilometers) of the city center but faced heavy resistance from a loyalist force of roughly 800 men, according to one commanders estimate.