Symbol of liberation but Gaddafi’s forces aren’t ready to give up Sirte

Libya’s interim government yesterday launched the “final offensive” on Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte – clearing much of it of men fighting for the former dictator.

The long awaited attack began at dawn. Mustering all the military power gathered in eight months of fighting, thousands of men and pick-ups mounted with guns besieged the town.

It emerged last night Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox had flown to Libya, where he met with Jalal al-Digheily, defence minister in the National Transitional Council interim government.

Earlier during the attack on Sirte Commander Amin El Turki rallied his men by shouting: “Today this is finished. We are going to end this now. Sirte is ours!”

Barrages of artillery lit up the sky, hitting the breadth of the coastal city and setting dozens of buildings aflame. In less than one hour a dark shroud of smoke lay over Sirte. To the west, fighting centred on the complex of houses that Col Gaddafi is said to have given to members of his tribe. Snipers loyal to him hid in giant construction cranes nearby and on the roofs of many of the 700 houses that make up the complex.

Amid fierce gunfire, Commander Turki was hit, twice in the chest and the leg. He died in the arms of a comrade.

Blasting in rockets and pumping recoilless rifles to advance, National Transitional Council fighters attacked with renewed vigour and, by early evening, many of the homes lay in their control.

Walking through the battle scarred and abandoned houses, fighters tore down green flags – once a symbol of the regime – and put bullets through posters of the ousted dictator.

In a nearby advance, fighters attacked the city’s south gate of Wagadugu, a sprawling military complex and conference centre. Battered T-55 tanks, rocket launcher trucks and fighters moved in formation across the expanse of flat scrubland towards the southern city gates.

Hundreds of rockets ripped across the dawn sky and the deafening boom of tank rounds filled the air. Men in battered green metal helmets hunkered in the sand as streaks of red tracer fire from the incoming enemy bullets strafed the field.

“Ciao Ciao Gaddafi!” screamed fighter Salah Ismail, exhilarated as he sent a rocket crashing into a building on the horizon.

“They are screaming that people are dying everywhere,” said a man listening into loyalist radio. Nato planes whirred overhead. “Since yesterday Nato has sent messages on the enemy’s radio telling them to drop their weapons, and leave their tanks,” said field officer Mohamed Shebti.

Taking the town has become a symbol of the new government’s authority, with NTC chair Mustafa Abdel Jalil pinning the declaration of liberation on its fall.

For weeks intense battles had led fighters to inch towards their goal, but only on Friday did they make significant gains.

On the east side too, fighters pushed towards the city centre. From the rooftop of a five-star hotel in the newly built suburb, rebels spied enemy positions.

Bullets hissed past as men with binoculars hid behind sandbags and radioed the locations of loyalist snipers to their artillery. Below the baubles of the hotel lobby, soldiers made ready to patrol. Amid heavy mortar fire, they ran building to building, pushing into enemy territory to capture two skyscrapers.

Though cornered, loyalists fought back with stiff resistance.

At the entrance to the Wagadugu conference centre, two kilometres from the city centre, sniper bullets hissed thick and fast through the air from all directions and rocket propelled grenades exploded overhead. Ambulances sped forward to evacuate the injured, and a paramedic died, shot in the head as he loaded a patient. Terrified men crouched close to the complex wall, trapped and in constant prayer as they watched comrades die and their offensive fall to pieces.

Four hours into the attack, more than 150 were wounded, and eight were confirmed dead, including brave commander Turki.

Loyalist fighters fired mortars from Ibn Sina, Sirte’s central hospital. Others fought from the military complex and snipers occupied fortified buildings of a new university, rebels said.

“All these are full of snipers,” said Mr Shebti, pointing to buildings less than a mile across the field.

“If they hold their positions despite our artillery attack, we will have to make another plan. Maybe we will have to go in on foot. We will lose many lives, but we have no choice,” said Ali Shah, 30, grimly.