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Libya: Gaddafi anti-combatants to attack Sirte and Bani Walid

The forces of the new regime in Libya on Saturday faced fierce resistance from troops loyal to ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi in Sirte their strongholds and Bani Walid, the scene of bloody fighting.

The takeover of Sirte and Bani Walid is still a matter of "days," said Bani Ahmad, spokesman for the military wing of the National Transitional Council (CNT), the political arm of the former rebel Colonel Gaddafi was expelled from power.

But on the ground, the fighters back from both cities spoke of strong resistance from pro-Gaddafi using rockets, artillery shells and heavy artillery to defend their strongholds.

A Bani Walid, an oasis located 170 km southeast of Tripoli, heavy fighting took place in the late afternoon after an attack against pro-Gaddafi who made at least one dead and several wounded in the ranks of the enemy camp, as fighters and a CNT AFP correspondent.

"They shaved the position after having referred at least seven rockets Grad-type," he told AFP one of the combatants of the new regime, Omar Ali Ramadan, returned from the front, while the ambulances were round trips to transport the victims.

Already yesterday, the fighters had to make a tactical withdrawal in the night to avoid, they say, to be taken under fire from snipers in the city to the complicated topography.

In Sirte, in the hometown of Muammar Gaddafi, 360 km east of Tripoli, the CNT forces continued to advance but had to back down under fire from pro-Gaddafi.

According to medical sources in a field hospital at least 10 people were killed and forty wounded, apparently all members of the forces of the new regime.

At least 6,000 combatants CNT mobilized on this front, as a commander of the Military Council of Misrata, Salem Jeha, who ensured that the airport south of the city was now under full control of pro-CNT.

"We focus now on a handful of buildings in the city and its environs.There are pockets of resistance, but they will not be able to defeat the forces of massive revolutionary, "he added.

Abdul Rauf al-Mansouri, a soldier returning from the front, was distinctly less optimistic late Saturday afternoon.He said no one still controls the airport, let alone the city: "We do not even 5% of Sirte because we're just out and penetrate."

In several neighborhoods, pro-Gaddafi attacked the forces of CNT with heavy artillery and rockets, while the latter responded with Grad rockets, according to an AFP journalist on the spot.

Commander Jeha said that half of the civilians had fled the city, noting that anti-Gaddafi did their best to avoid innocent loss.

The city was also flown at all times by NATO planes, which said it had struck 20 targets in the area Friday.

While the fighting raged, the CNT, already recognized by some 90 countries, was awarded Friday by the General Assembly of the UN headquarters in Libya.

This vote allows its leader, Mustafa Abdeljalil, to attend the annual meeting in New York on the sidelines of which he is scheduled to meet Tuesday with U.S. President Barack Obama.

The Security Council of the UN for its part, announced the partial lifting of the freeze on Libyan assets and a mission to help draft a new constitution and help organize elections.

Western countries have supported a military intervention in Libya welcomed this dual decision "historic" the UN.

The Security Council nevertheless expressed in its resolution of concern about the "proliferation of weapons to Libya and its potential impact on peace and security in the region."

The resolution, however, the possibility of deliveries of small arms for law enforcement and technical assistance to the transitional government in the field of security and to protect UN personnel, the media and humanitarian organizations.