Libyan Rebels Beaten at Gaddafi Bastion Sirte after Taking Sabha

World | September 21, 2011, Wednesday // 19:36|  views

A Libyan rebel (L) flashes a `Victory sign` as he sits on the back of a pickup vehicle, on the outskirts of Bani Walid, Libya, 21 September 2011. EPA/BGNES

Libyan rebel forces of the Transitional National Council have suffered heavy losses after attempting to storm Sirte, the hometown of fugitive dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The resistance of the Gaddafi loyalists at Sirte has left hospitals "full of wounded", and has even forced the rebels to send their critical troops for treatment abroad, Al Jazeera reported.

At least 45 NTC fighters have been killed and more than 200 wounded by explosions or gunfire since they launched an offensive against Sirte last week, medics in Misrata said.

At least six explosions shook Sirte in Wednesday afternoon as NATO aircraft overflew the town where forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi battled rebel fighters seeking to oust them.

Earlier on Wednesday, Libya's Transitional National Council declared its fighters have overrun the key southern city of Sabha, one of the last strongholds of forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

"We are in complete control of the city of Sabha. Everybody, including  (those who were) pro-Kadhafi, are now with the revolution," Abdelmajid Seif  Ennasr, an official for the TNC in Sabha, was quoted as saying.

He added that the NTC fighters were only encountering "resistance from some individuals here and there."

With Sabha in the hands of the rebels, Sirte and Bani Walid are the last surviving major strongholds of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

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Tags: Libya, rebels, Sirte, Sabha, Bani Walid, Muammar Gaddafi

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