Fighters of Libya’s National Transitional Council say that members of Muammar Gaddafi’s tribe are beginning to flee Sirte, as heavy fighting continues in a residential neighbourhood near the centre of the deposed dictator’s hometown.
Olivia Bolton5:48PM BST 11 Oct 2011
National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters from Benghazi have been leading the charge on the areas in Sirte still controlled by pro-Gaddafi forces.
Speaking from the frontline Colonel Kamel El-Magrabi said: “We have them in two or three square kilometres, and the good news today is that the Gaddafi family is starting to flee Sirte.”
He added that his forces had captured more than 20 Gaddafi tribe members as they attempted to flee the city, many of whom had been fighting them for control of Sirte.
Troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are still putting up a fierce resistance, using snipers, mortars and machine guns, and are preventing NTC forces from claiming victory, although government forces have been able to take control of a strategic police building near the centre of the city.
The fighting is part of what NTC fighters term a “final assault” on the city that has seen at least 70 of their fighters killed and hundreds wounded, according to medics.
