LIBYA: People flee Sirte as fighters loyal to country's new rulers prepare to free town from Gaddafi loyalists

Record ID: 375162

  • Title: LIBYA: People flee Sirte as fighters loyal to country's new rulers prepare to free town from Gaddafi loyalists
  • Date: 20th September 2011
  • Summary: CHILDREN FLASHING VICTORY SIGNS FROM THE WINDOW OF A VEHICLE AND SHOUTING: ALLAHU AKBAR
  • Embargoed: 5th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVAELKKNY3SVNGWN98OUU7L8BG36
  • Story Text: Hundreds of Libyan families fled Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte on Monday (September 19) as fighters sent by Libya's new rulers to capture the city rolled up with huge rocket launchers and artillery guns.
    National Transitional Council (NTC) forces have been struggling to wrest Sirte from Gaddafi loyalists for several days.
    Pro-NTC fighters fired test shots to alert pro-Gaddafi forces holed up inside the city of their presence.
    "We are just loading the weapons and if they have faulty weapons, we are repairing them before the battle," said one fighter.
    "They are getting prepared for the war ahead against Gaddafi's brigades, God willing we will take them out by their necks," said another.
    Sirte, 450 km east of Tripoli, is one of the last strongholds of pro-Gaddafi forces along with the besieged desert town of Bani Walid and Sabha, deep in the remote south.
    Interim government forces gathered on the western outskirts of Sirte and exchanged scores of rockets with pro-Gaddafi fighters as NATO jets roared overhead.
    The pro-NTC fighters, who were forced into retreat on Saturday (September 17) after storming the city, said they were holding off advancing deeper into Sirte or firing heavy artillery for now because they wanted to give residents a chance to leave.
    Residents escaping said hundreds were still trapped in Sirte. Some estimated around a third of roughly 70,000 residents had left.
    Pro-NTC fighters manned a checkpoint and searched the belongings of fleeing families to check for weapons.
    Residents said homes had been destroyed and cars smashed to pieces as disorder spread.
    "The situation for people is poor. There are explosions everywhere and we don't even know where the bullets were coming from. Our houses were destroyed and our cars were broken, you can see the glass in front of you. Nobody is safe at home, bullets come from overhead, people are firing randomly and that's it," said Abubakr.
    Residents edged towards the checkpoint in their vehicles, some looking visibly distressed, while others chanted anti-Gaddafi slogans and waved Libya's new flag.
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