CAIRO: Libyan interim government forces, previously known as ‘the rebels,' made a strategic retreat from their attack on the Bani Walid desert town after a hectic battle, but have renewed their attempts at seizing Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte. The final strongholds of the former Libyan leader have staged a tough defensive, thwarting the National transitional Council's (NTC) attempts at ‘liberating' the country. The NTC must capture these final strongholds in order to be able to declare the country liberated, and thus to be able to begin work on a pre-election constitution. The whereabouts of Gaddafi is unknown, but rumors have hinted that he may be in one f the last remaining strongholds such as Bani Walid and Sirte, or abroad. According to his fugitive spokesman, Gaddafi is still in Libya in control of his forces. There have been several attempts to storm Bani Walid in the past few days. Their latest efforts to overpower the city was met with a retreat when the NTC forces came under heavy rocket fire originating from the city. The NTC has attributed their defeat on Sunday to the disorganized state of their standing army. According to the NTC, tanks and pickup trucks carrying anti-arcraft cannons and rocket launchers were supposed to lead the attack, however their ground troops acted without orders and rushed in without adequate suppression fire and no orders. “There is a lack of organization so far. Infantry men are running in all directions,” said Zakaria Tuham to Reuters, a senior fighter with a Tripoli-based brigade. “Our commanders had been told that heavy artillery units had already gone ahead, but when we advanced into Bani Walid they were nowhere to be seen. “Gaddafi forces were hitting us heavily with rockets and mortars, so we have pulled out.” According to witnesses on the ground, snipers were relentless in pinning NTC forces while artillery shells exploded overhead. Some fighters have blamed their loss on local fighters, accused of being Gaddafi agents, of passing on information to Gaddafi loyalist. Meanwhile in Sirte, Gadaffi loyalist holed up in a conference centre have been engaging in a ferocious battle to maintain control of the city. “The situation is very dangerous. There are so many snipers and all the types of weapons you can imagine,” said anti-Gaddafi fighter Mohamed Abdullah to Reuters. Sirte's hospitals have been preparing to deal with the expected increase in casualties. A Gaddafi spokesman told Reuters that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) airstrikes killed 345 people in Sirte on Friday night, but this has not been confirmed. Previous reports of similar nature have been deemed false by NATO “We will be able to continue this fight and we have enough arms for months and months to come,” the spokesman told Reuters via satellite telephone on Saturday. BM
