@GheblawiGhazi Gheblawi
Libyan rebels battle pro- #Gaddafiforces in #Sirte controlling a residential district and a hotelgu.com/p/32ayt/tw #Libya
Libyan rebels battle pro-Gaddafi forces in Sirte
Revolutionary forces say they have seized control of a residential district and a hotel in Gaddafi's hometown
Libyan rebels outside Sirte in Libya. Photograph: Manu Brabo/AP
Libyan revolutionary forces are engaged in heavy fighting with forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi in the ousted dictator's hometown of Sirte, according to a rebel commander.
Fighters from eastern Libya have seized control of Sirte's first residential district and a hotel where pro-Gaddafi snipers were based, said Mustafa al-Rubai.
After weeks of fighting inside Sirte, forces loyal to the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) say they now hold positions about three miles (5km) from the city centre.
The Libyan defence ministry has said the fighters also seized Sirte's port, military base and airport last week.
Rubai said although the fighters had surrounded Sirte from all sides, a path out had been left for civilians who still wanted to leave the coastal city.
Aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arrived at the besieged city on Saturday with a truckload of supplies.
At a checkpoint manned by pro-NTC forces just over a mile outside the city, rebel commanders said they would try to allow the aid workers inside the city.
"There is a pause [in shelling] so families can leave … We are trying to co-ordinate with the Red Cross," Khaled al-Nas told Reuters.
Sirte is one of only two main remaining strongholds still held by pro-Gaddafi forces and the NTC has failed to take it with several assaults in the past two weeks.
The United Nations and humanitarian organisations such as the ICRC have warned that there may be civilian casualties in the city and the living conditions are dire.
Doctors at a field hospital outside Sirte told Reuters that one woman died of malnutrition there and that they had seen other cases
