Tough Week In Libya Battle

• September 30th, 2011
• Posted by EUEditor

A week of hard fighting in and around the city of Sirte in Libya has ended with the interim government forces regaining control of the city’s airport.

Correspondents on the ground in Libya, travelling with the National Transition Council side, say that civilians have been struggling to get out of the city, one of the remaining redoubts of the former Gaddafi regime.

They say the streets are empty, people waiting out the shooting, some moving to get out amid widespread shooting, mortar attacks and air strikes.

NATO has confirmed continuing action against forces of the former government, with 30 strike sorties – air attacks or reconnaissance- on 28.9.11, including strikes in the Sirte area against an ammunition  or vehicle storage facility, two command or staging and firing sites and a tank.

The troops loyal to the ousted leader, Muamar al-Gaddafi, have put up an organised defence of the city, his own home town, at one stage reclaiming control of the airport terminal after it was captured by the other side — now back there again.

Reference

BBC News, London, “Libya forces take airport in Gaddafi-stronghold Sirte”, 29.9.11. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15110440, (30.9.11).

Joseph Logan (Sirte), “Libya’s NTC retakes airport in Gaddafi home town”, Reuters, London, 29.9.11. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/29/us-libya-sirte-airport-idUSTRE78S2ME20110929?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71, (30.9.11).

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Brussels Naples, “NATO and Libya: Operational Media Update for 28 September 2011”, 29.9.11. http://www.jfcnaples.nato.int/, (30.9.11).

• View Similar Articles