LIBYA: Intense gun battles fought on the streets of Bani Walid

Record ID: 374799

  • Title: LIBYA: Intense gun battles fought on the streets of Bani Walid
  • Date: 15th September 2011
  • Summary: OUTSKIRTS OF BANI WALID (SEPTEMBER 14, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NTC FORCES' CHECKPOINT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) NTC LOCAL MILITARY COMMANDER YASSIR ABDUL-RAHMAN, SAYING: "Bani Walid's situation is good today, NATO increased their activity today from 1a.m. to 5a.m., and God willing everything is improving. Families have been continuously leaving for the past five days." V
  • Embargoed: 30th September 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA89REZJEZVYZ8UQHVKNA2EW0RL
  • Story Text: Intense gun battles were fought on the streets of Bani Walid, as Libyan transitional government forces tried again to dislodge Gaddafi loyalists from the desert town on Monday (September 12).
    The fighting was captured on amateur video obtained by Reuters Television.
    The desert town, 180 km (112-miles) south from Tripoli, has been the scene of unexpectedly stiff resistance against fighters of the new ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) that overran Tripoli on Aug. 23.
    The video, recorded in Bani Walid on Monday, showed fierce street fighting, as NTC fighters confronted suspected pro-Gaddafi snipers on rooftops.
    Hundreds of residents began to leave the town on Monday and Tuesday (September 13) after Gaddafi forces abandoned some checkpoints on the outskirts.
    Libyan transitional government forces handed out free petrol to help civilians in their flight in advance of another onslaught, aimed at capturing the town.
    NTC field commanders said people in Bani Walid had been told via broadcast radio messages they had two days to leave town before it came under full-blown attack.
    "Bani Walid's situation is good today, NATO increased their activity today from 1a.m. to 5a.m., and God willing everything is improving. Families have been continuously leaving for the past five days," NTC local military commander Yassir Abdul-Rahman said.
    Complaining of hardship and intimidation, residents of Bani Walid headed to nearby towns or started the 180 km (112-mile) journey north towards the capital Tripoli on Tuesday in cars packed with children and possessions.
    "There was random shooting (in the town). There were also clashes in the past two days in the streets of the city between the revolutionaries and those who are associated with the previous regime and Gaddafi's brigades," said Fatah al-Hammadi, leaving with his family.
    Along with Gaddafi's hometown Sirte on the Mediterranean coast and Sabha in the southern desert, Bani Walid is one of the last strongholds of old regime fighters.
    Their dogged resistance has complicated NTC efforts to normalise life in the oil-rich North African state and the United Nations has voiced fears about the plight of civilians marooned inside besieged pro-Gaddafi towns, particularly Sirte.
    Gaddafi's whereabouts are unknown. NTC officials have said he could be hiding in one of the outposts like Bani Walid, helping to rally a last stand against NATO-backed forces.
    The country's new rulers have hesitated to employ heavy-handed tactics to seize Bani Walid, which is home to the Warfalla tribe, Libya's largest.
    Libya's interim rulers have said that, along with taking control of pro-Gaddafi enclaves, capturing or killing the fugitive leader is a priority and only then could Libya be declared "liberated".
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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