- Title: LIBYA: Anti-Gaddafi forces advance on desert town of Bani Walid
- Date: 8th September 2011
- Summary: NEAR BANI WALID, LIBYA (SEPTEMBER 7, 2011) (REUTERS) (NIGHTSHOTS) VARIOUS OF ANTI-GADDAFI FORCES CHANTING: "THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS WILL NOT BE SHED IN VAIN" ARMOURED VEHICLE/MOSQUE IN BACKGROUND FORCES IN BACK OF VEHICLE SAYING: "ALLAHU AKBAR" (GOD IS GREAT) FORCES BEING BRIEFED FORCES GIVING VICTORY SIGN VARIOUS OF MAN IN MILITARY UNIFORM STANDING GUARD VARIOUS OF FORCES IN BACK OF TRUCK GIVING VICTORY SIGN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SALAH, FORCES COMMANDER, SAYING: "There is an advance of troops to the frontline, those are an infantry brigade and they will stay at the frontline." FORCES DRIVING AWAY IN BACK OF TRUCK
- Embargoed: 23rd September 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Libya
- Country: Libya
- Topics: Conflict,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA91DOCDX83UNC9MQD3W67Y2K9Z
- Story Text: A brigade of anti-Gaddafi troops advanced on the besieged Libyan town of Bani Walid on Wednesday night (September 7), a town that remains stubbornly in the hands of die-hard gunmen raring to fight for their deposed leader.
Fighters at the gates of Bani Walid, one of the last remaining strongholds of the old regime, have so far failed to convince the town's pro-Gaddafi masters to lay down their arms and surrender.
On Wednesday, a brigade of reinforcements arrived to bolster the fighters already stationed there.
"There is an advance of troops to the frontline, those are an infantry brigade and they will stay at the frontline," said commander Salah.
Inside Bani Walid, tucked away in barren hills about 150 km (90 miles) south of the capital Tripoli, Gaddafi's green flags still fly above households and a huge portrait of Gaddafi in military uniform towers above its central square.
Shooting in the air and yelling insults from the back of their pickup trucks, packs of Gaddafi loyalists regularly speed through the streets, according to residents.
Outside the town, Bani Walid residents passing through a checkpoint of anti-Gaddafi forces set up around the nearby desert settlement of Wishtata painted an increasingly desperate picture inside their town, saying the streets were deserted, there were shortages of basic goods and people were terrified.
The fighters say they do not want to fight, preferring to reach a peaceful deal with the town's powerful Warfalla tribe and enter peacefully.
But with no end to the standoff in sight, and anti-Gaddafi forces poised to take Bani Walid by force, refugees have been streaming out of the city from its eastern side, their cars loaded with sacks of food and personal belongings. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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