Gaddafi Loyalists Assault Libyan Rebels in Tripoli

Libyan rebel fighter are seen during the battle to liberate the city of Sirte, Libya, 14 October 2011. EPA/BGNES

Some 50 armed supporters of fugitive Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi have reignited the fighting against the rebel forces in Libya's capital Tripoli.

A gun battle has broken out in the Libyan capital Tripoli between 20 to 50 armed supporters of deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi and forces of the Transitional National Council (NTC), Al Jazeera reported citing witnesses.

Rebel fighters mounted on pick-up trucks raced towards the scene in the Abu Salim neighbourhood, a center of support for Gaddafi. The two sides exchanged automatic and heavy machine gun fire.

Local residents said a group of armed men had appeared in Abu Salim earlier and had begun chanting pro-Gaddafi slogans.

The capital was captured on August 21 in the Battle for Tripoli, when the Libyan dictator Gaddafi went into hiding.

Fighting in the last two pockets of pro-Gaddafi resistance is continuing at the dictator's hometown Sirte and at Bani Walid.

According to media sources, fighting in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte intensified on 14 October as diedhard fighters loyal to the fugitive deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi reportedly regrouped in a desperate bid to drive back advancing troops of the country`s new rulers. Sirte, the hometown of ousted leader Gaddafi, and the desert town of Bani Walid, are the two main strongholds for Gaddafi`s forces.

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