Freedom Fighters seize Bani Walid - Al Jazeera Englishaljazeera.com/news/africa/20… #BaniWalid #Victory #Libya #Feb17
Bani Walid, one of two last remaining stronghold's of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has fallen to National Transitional Council fighters, the interim government forces said.
NTC military commanders said on Monday that they were encountering pockets of resistance in the town, located about 170km southeast of Tripoli. But they said they had claimed about 95 per cent of it.
"We are very much in the centre of Bani Walid. They [Libyan fighters] came through here just over an hour ago and they are saying this is an almost complete liberation of the town," Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reported from inside Bani Walid.
"[There are] some pockets of resistance by pro-Gaddafi forces but by-and-large 95 per cent of the town is under [NTC] control."
Birtley said the fall came after three days of heavy fighting, using a lot of heavy weapons and tanks.
"The gunfire of celebration is ringing out and they are going completely crazy here because they know this is sending a very clear message to those pro-Gaddafi elements who are still holding out in Sirte. Basically, there is nowhere left to go," Birtley added.
"They hope that in the next few days, Sirte will go the same way."
'Sniper bullets'
In Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace and his final coastal stronghold, fighting had eased on Sunday.
The city on the Mediterranean coast, has been a site of fierce clashes between NTC forces and those loyal to deposed leader Gaddafi for over a month. Sunday saw a lull with only intermittent shelling and rocket-fire, AFP correspondents said.
"We are shelling with tanks and anti-aircraft weapons and then we will send our troops onto the streets," said Salem Ahmed, a tank commander from the eastern city of Benghazi.
