Reply #79: Updated AP story: Libyan fighters press into Gadhafi strongholds [View All]

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By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI and RYAN LUCAS - Associated Press | AP – 20 mins ago


SIRTE, Libya (AP) — Libyan revolutionary forces escalated offensives Friday into two key strongholds of Moammar Gadhafi's rule, battling fierce resistance from snipers and loyalist gunners in Gadhafi's hometown and a mountain enclave where a pro-regime radio station urged followers to fight to the end.

In Sirte, Gadhafi's birthplace on the Mediterranean coast, his backers rained gunfire down from mosque minarets and high-rise buildings on fighters pushing into the city from the west, while in the streets the two sides battered each other with high-caliber machine guns, rockets, and rocket-propelled grenades.

In the strategic mountain town of Bani Walid, revolutionary fighters and Gadhafi loyalists traded relentless mortar and rocket fire across a 500-yard-wide desert valley called Wadi Zeitoun that divides the town — and the two sides — between north and south. Fighters dashed through alleyways to set off volleys of fire, hitting a residence that Gadhafi was building on the remains of old fort overlooking the wadi.

"The Gadhafi loyalists have so many weapons. This battle is really crazy," said Maab Fatel, a 28-year-old fighter, his uniform splattered with bloodstains from carrying a wounded comrade.

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http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-fighters-press-gadhafi-strongholds-130338348.html