NTC fighters close in on Sirte
- 13 years ago
Rough Cut (no reporter narration)
STORY: Street warfare broke out in downtown Sirte on Sunday (October 16) for the third day in a row between opposition fighters and pro-Gaddafi forces around the al-Dollar residential district.
As National Transitional Council fighters kept up a continual barrage of RPG and anti-aircraft fire, one commander accused the pro-Gaddafi fighters of using women and children who live in the area as human shields.
Convoys of tanks and other military vehicles could be seen driving in to Sirte as Abu Zied said they would enter al-Dollar later in the day.
NTC militia have besieged Sirte for weeks, only slowly tightening their grip to the point where now Gaddafi die-hards are surrounded in an area of about two sq km (a sq mile). Green flags, the banner of Gaddafi's rule, still fly over the area.
However there is little sign yet of a major push under way from the NTC infantry to completely take the politically strategic town.
The often chaotic struggle has cost scores of lives and left thousands homeless.
STORY: Street warfare broke out in downtown Sirte on Sunday (October 16) for the third day in a row between opposition fighters and pro-Gaddafi forces around the al-Dollar residential district.
As National Transitional Council fighters kept up a continual barrage of RPG and anti-aircraft fire, one commander accused the pro-Gaddafi fighters of using women and children who live in the area as human shields.
Convoys of tanks and other military vehicles could be seen driving in to Sirte as Abu Zied said they would enter al-Dollar later in the day.
NTC militia have besieged Sirte for weeks, only slowly tightening their grip to the point where now Gaddafi die-hards are surrounded in an area of about two sq km (a sq mile). Green flags, the banner of Gaddafi's rule, still fly over the area.
However there is little sign yet of a major push under way from the NTC infantry to completely take the politically strategic town.
The often chaotic struggle has cost scores of lives and left thousands homeless.