Libyan forces make chaotic advance into Sirte
- 13 years ago
(ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: As National Transitional Council fighters advance into Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's home town, the fighting has become street-to-street and house-to-house.
Some scout the ground ahead by walking down the middle of the street. Others instead run down the street holding their AK47s above their heads while squeezing the trigger. Some spray bullets at empty plots of land, or lines of trees.
NTC fighters maneuvered a tank into a small side street flooded with sewage from a burst pipe. It fired a few rounds at a large building up ahead, then infantrymen moved in, letting off bursts from their AK-47s as they advanced up the street.
At first, there was very little return fire from the pro-Gaddafi side. But the government fighters had walked into an ambush. Hit by a hail of RPG and small arms fire, the NTC men scrambled back to safety, one nursing a wound to his hand.
Fighters loyal to deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are now holding out in just two small pockets of his home town Sirte on Wednesday, government commanders said after making gains overnight.
The NTC has said it will start the process of rebuilding Libya as a democracy only after the capture of Sirte, a former fishing village transformed by Gaddafi's largesse into a showpiece for his rule replete with lavish conference halls and hotels.
STORY: As National Transitional Council fighters advance into Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi's home town, the fighting has become street-to-street and house-to-house.
Some scout the ground ahead by walking down the middle of the street. Others instead run down the street holding their AK47s above their heads while squeezing the trigger. Some spray bullets at empty plots of land, or lines of trees.
NTC fighters maneuvered a tank into a small side street flooded with sewage from a burst pipe. It fired a few rounds at a large building up ahead, then infantrymen moved in, letting off bursts from their AK-47s as they advanced up the street.
At first, there was very little return fire from the pro-Gaddafi side. But the government fighters had walked into an ambush. Hit by a hail of RPG and small arms fire, the NTC men scrambled back to safety, one nursing a wound to his hand.
Fighters loyal to deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are now holding out in just two small pockets of his home town Sirte on Wednesday, government commanders said after making gains overnight.
The NTC has said it will start the process of rebuilding Libya as a democracy only after the capture of Sirte, a former fishing village transformed by Gaddafi's largesse into a showpiece for his rule replete with lavish conference halls and hotels.