Gaddafi Forces Counter-Attack Libyan Rebels near Sirte

NTC fighters claimed to have captured a key objective Thursday in their drive on the hometown of fugitive Muammar Gaddafi, a few days after talks on a peaceful surrender of the town of Bani Walid, held by Gaddafi loyalists, ended without success. EPA/BGNE

Loyalist forces of dictator Muammar Gaddafi have started a counter-offensive to retake the Red Valley region near their stronghold Sirte, a spot that the Libyan rebels claimed to have conquered a day earlier.

Gaddafi forces are reported to have fired rockets and artillery shells to recapture Red Valley, 60 km east of Sirte, and one of the lines of defense for the Gaddafi troops in Sirte, Al Jazeera reported.

The even though the rebel government, the Transitional National Council in Libya, announced the capture of Red Valley on Thursday, sporadic fighting continued on Friday morning.

The fighting near another one of Gaddafi's last remaining bastions – the town of Bani Walid, a dusty town of 100 000 some 140 km southeast of Tripoli – is continuing with varying success for the two parties, with the dictator's loyalists firing rockets.

The Transitional National Council has been in talks with Libyan tribal elders for their forces to enter Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte and the loyalist-held towns of Bani Walid and Sabha but the appear to have achieved little as the rebel forces are reported to be amassing for a push against Sirte and Bani Walid.

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