Fierce fighting raged Monday in Bani Walid as new regime fighters attacked the oasis town where a son of Muammar Gaddafi is believed holed up, possibly with his father, said Libya’s rulers.
“The revolutionaries came to Bani Walid this morning and engaged in a hard battle,” Abdullah Kenshil, a senior official in the National Transitional Council (NTC), told AFP.
Kenshil said the battle against Gaddafi’s mercenaries for control of Bani Walid, one of the ousted strongman’s few remaining bastions southeast of Tripoli, was a “done deal and will be completed in the next two days.”
The NTC official said that Seif al-Islam, the most prominent son of the ousted Libyan leader, had been seen in Bani Walid, and that it is likely that his father is also in the oasis town.
“Seif al-Islam was seen in Bani Walid; this is 100 percent certain. As for his father, he was there too; we are 70 percent sure,” Kenshil told AFP, adding they were only being defended by mercenaries.
“Those fighting in Bani Walid are not necessarily Gaddafi’s brigades, whose members joined the NTC forces,” said Kenshil, adding they were “mercenaries from Chad, Niger and Togo, according to the bodies we have recovered.”
Gaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi have been at large since rebels overran Tripoli on August 23. They are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
On Sunday, the NTC’s forces had been beaten back after pushing into Bani Walid. Correspondents heard loud explosions and intermittent gunfire from inside the town, and rockets exploded near NTC positions on its outskirts.
“We folded because of the intensity of the bombing by the loyalist forces against our positions,” Kenshil said, adding negotiations were underway for the evacuation of about 50,000 civilians from the town.
Pro-NTC forces also resumed their battle for Sirte on Monday afternoon after regrouping overnight, said an AFP correspondent imbedded with NTC troops east of the city on Libya’s central Mediterranean coast.
“Our fighters are spread out and the idea is to slowly and steadily advance ahead,” Mustafa said as the sound of heavy artillery fire echoed in the background.
THE N.T.C WILL NEVER SUCCEED IN LIBYA.WE SHALL SEE AT LAST WHO WILL WIN LIBYAN BATTLE.IS IT KAAFIR OR GADHAFI?WE SHALL SEE.KAM MIN FII ATI KALILAT,GALABAT FI ATI KTHIRATU BI IZNILLAH SWADAQA LLAHUL AZEEM
AFRICANS,HOW LONG WILL THEY BE KILLING OUR PROPHETS,WHILE WE STAND BEHIND AND LOOK.BUT STLL SUPPORTING THEM BECAUZ OF EURO,DOLLARS AND POUNDS?THIS IS A BIG QUESTION TO SO CALLED AFRICAN LEADERS
HOW COMES SO CALLED WORLD LEADERS SUPPORTING REBELS,BY EVEN SUPPORTING THEM TO RULE A NATION.REALLY,THIS IS THE SIGN OF THE END OF THE WORLD.NTHERE WOULD BE NO JUSTICE,WHEN THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END.ALL WHAT IAM GOING TO TELL MY FELLOW BROTHERS AND SISTER IN THE WORLD IS KEEP ON PRAYING,AND SEE UR END
IF YOU I.C.C ARE TELLING ME THAT GADHAFI IS GOING TO FACE THE LAW FOR KILLING HIS OWN PEOPLE,THEN WHAT ABOUT A PERSON WHO WENT TO SOMEBODIES COUNTRY AND KILL ITS CITIZENS,AND STILL TELLING HE IS PROTECTING CIVILIANS?TO ME I.C.C. IS UNJUSTICE.
IAM VERY SURE THAT,THE JIHAD,AS ALLAH PROMISED IS NEAR,THAT IS WHY WE DISCOVERED IRAN.ALLAH BLESS IRAN FOREVER
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