(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Anti-Gaddafi fighters launched a fresh assault on Wednesday against the ousted strongman's remaining holdouts, now pinned into a small corner of his hometown Sirte.
The fighting was concentrated in the outer streets of Sirte's Number Two neighborhood, with both sides trading heavy gunfire and bombarding each other with mortar shells.
Ali al-Rikabi, field commander of the National Transitional Council (NTC), Libya's new rulers, said fighting was raging in "four or five streets of the neighborhood."
"It is intense and we have exchanges of gunfire," he said, as an AFP reporter saw wounded NTC fighters being hurried out towards a field hospital.
There was no immediate information on a latest toll but medics said at least 11 NTC fighters were killed and 95 wounded on Tuesday alone in the battle to subdue the last pockets of support for Moamer Gaddafi in Sirte.
Dozens of vehicles massed early afternoon in the west of Number Two district, ready to follow a bulldozer and a tank deeper into the district.
According to Essam Baghhar, a field commander of the NTC's Zintan Brigade, only Number Two neighborhood in the Mediterranean city was still being held by Gaddafi's forces after NTC fighters overran the adjoining Dollar district late on Tuesday.
"The Dollar neighbourhood was liberated last night and now the fight is in Number Two neighborhood," Baghhar said.
He added that loyalist forces had been pushed into an area of Number Two neighborhood less than one square kilometre (0.4 square mile) in size.
"We have captured many snipers in the past two days, including two women snipers," the commander said.
Gaddafi was toppled in August when NTC fighters overran his headquarters in the capital Tripoli. He has since gone into hiding, with some NTC officials believing he could be in Sirte, making a last stand. However, most believe he is hiding out in Libya's vast southern deserts.
NTC leaders have said that once Sirte is fully under their control they will declare Libya freed of Gaddafi's 42-year autocratic rule and set about forming an interim authority ahead of elections.
In the desert oasis of Bani Walid, 170 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Tripoli, the red, black and green flag of the new government was raised after the only other remaining holdout was captured on Monday.
Workers at Libya's Waha Oil Company demonstrated in the capital Tripoli, meanwhile, demanding the resignation of boss Bashir al-Ashhab for alleged corruption and ties to the old regime, saying his refusal to quit was costing $36 million daily.
Around 100 people gathered outside the prime minister's office in Tripoli holding placards and chanting "Waha needs a change!" and "Ashhab, take your chair and get out!"
Waha is the country's largest joint venture oil company, a partnership between the state-run National Oil Corporation and US firms ConocoPhillips, Hess and Marathon. It has a production capacity of more than 350,000 barrels per day but output has been suspended since late February.
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The fighting was concentrated in the outer streets of Sirte's Number Two neighborhood, with both sides trading heavy gunfire and bombarding each other with mortar shells.
Ali al-Rikabi, field commander of the National Transitional Council (NTC), Libya's new rulers, said fighting was raging in "four or five streets of the neighborhood."
"It is intense and we have exchanges of gunfire," he said, as an AFP reporter saw wounded NTC fighters being hurried out towards a field hospital.
There was no immediate information on a latest toll but medics said at least 11 NTC fighters were killed and 95 wounded on Tuesday alone in the battle to subdue the last pockets of support for Moamer Gaddafi in Sirte.
Dozens of vehicles massed early afternoon in the west of Number Two district, ready to follow a bulldozer and a tank deeper into the district.
According to Essam Baghhar, a field commander of the NTC's Zintan Brigade, only Number Two neighborhood in the Mediterranean city was still being held by Gaddafi's forces after NTC fighters overran the adjoining Dollar district late on Tuesday.
"The Dollar neighbourhood was liberated last night and now the fight is in Number Two neighborhood," Baghhar said.
He added that loyalist forces had been pushed into an area of Number Two neighborhood less than one square kilometre (0.4 square mile) in size.
"We have captured many snipers in the past two days, including two women snipers," the commander said.
Gaddafi was toppled in August when NTC fighters overran his headquarters in the capital Tripoli. He has since gone into hiding, with some NTC officials believing he could be in Sirte, making a last stand. However, most believe he is hiding out in Libya's vast southern deserts.
NTC leaders have said that once Sirte is fully under their control they will declare Libya freed of Gaddafi's 42-year autocratic rule and set about forming an interim authority ahead of elections.
In the desert oasis of Bani Walid, 170 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Tripoli, the red, black and green flag of the new government was raised after the only other remaining holdout was captured on Monday.
Workers at Libya's Waha Oil Company demonstrated in the capital Tripoli, meanwhile, demanding the resignation of boss Bashir al-Ashhab for alleged corruption and ties to the old regime, saying his refusal to quit was costing $36 million daily.
Around 100 people gathered outside the prime minister's office in Tripoli holding placards and chanting "Waha needs a change!" and "Ashhab, take your chair and get out!"
Waha is the country's largest joint venture oil company, a partnership between the state-run National Oil Corporation and US firms ConocoPhillips, Hess and Marathon. It has a production capacity of more than 350,000 barrels per day but output has been suspended since late February.
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