LIBYA: Fighters loyal to new rulers move to the outskirts of Bani Walid using heavy artillery and closing in on the outpost held by Muammar Gaddafi's forces
Record ID:
560201
LIBYA: Fighters loyal to new rulers move to the outskirts of Bani Walid using heavy artillery and closing in on the outpost held by Muammar Gaddafi's forces
- Title: LIBYA: Fighters loyal to new rulers move to the outskirts of Bani Walid using heavy artillery and closing in on the outpost held by Muammar Gaddafi's forces
- Date: 15th September 2011
- Summary: SLATE INFORMATION NEAR BANI WALID, LIBYA (SEPTEMBER 14, 2011) (REUTERS) DRIVING TOWARDS CHECKPOINT MANNED BY NATIONAL TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL (NTC) FIGHTERS CLOSE-UP OF ASSAULT RIFLE VARIOUS OF FIGHTERS CHECKPOINT TOWN OF BANI WALID IN THE DISTANCE FIGHTERS LOOKING DOWN ROAD TO BANI WALID
- Embargoed: 30th September 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Libya
- Country: Libya
- Topics: Conflict,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA1ATXH4CRNBD11IE02IGRHKET1
- Story Text: Fighters loyal to the National Transitional Council (NTC), the country's interim rulers, have edged closer to a desert outpost held by Muammar Gaddafi's forces on Wednesday (September 14).
Hundreds of residents have poured out of the town in the past three days in cars crammed with children and possessions. They say street battles and severe food and fuel shortages have made it impossible to stay.
Along with Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte on the Mediterranean coast and Sabha, in the southern desert, Bani Walid is one of the last major pro-Gaddafi strongholds in Libya.
Forces backed by the NTC have met stronger resistance in Bani Walid than expected. They had initially estimated pro-Gaddafi forces in the low hundreds.
The central, densely populated part of Bani Walid is proving difficult to capture, NTC fighters say. It is on higher ground, allowing pro-Gaddafi forces to take aim from above.
A local commander said earlier about a quarter of the town's 100,000 residents had left but many are reported trapped in loyalist-controlled areas. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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