Reply #89: After a day of intense fighting, anti-Gadhafi forces pull back [View All]

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Sirte, Sabha and Bani Walid are the last loyalist strongholds

• A Libyan delegation in Niger demands the return of Saadi Gadhafi

• A deadline for Bani Walid residents to leave passes

By the CNN Wire Staff

September 16, 2011 3:56 p.m. EDT


Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Revolutionary forces attacked loyalist strongholds Friday in a failed attempt to snuff out the last remaining resistance to a post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya.

In the fallen leader's hometown of Sirte, along the Mediterranean coast, anti-Gadhafi fighters pulled back Friday night after a day of chaotic, fierce street fighting. The number of casualties was unclear.

A brigade of fighters from Misrata wrested control of the Al-Gurdabia military base and a civilian airport near the western edge of Sirte, according to the Misrata Military Council.

From the central city, anti-Gadhafi fighters retreated to the outskirts after troops loyal to Gadhafi put up strong resistance. Expected support from residents of Sirte did not materialize as loyalists fought house to house with an intensity that had not been anticipated. Revolutionary forces said they would try again Saturday.

One of Gadhafi's sons, Mutassim, the regime's national security adviser, may have been coordinating the fighting in Sirte, according to Alm Hashi, a revolutionary fighter. He said Mutassim Gadhafi's voice crackled on the radio with orders for troops loyal to his father.

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Story and video report by Nic Robertson on Saadi Gaddafi (2:51):
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/09/16/libya.war/index.html?hpt=wo_c1