13 October 2011

BEIRUT/SIRTE, Libya: Fighters loyal to deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi were holding out in just two small pockets of his hometown Sirte Wednesday, government commanders said after making gains overnight.

Gadhafi loyalists have fought tenaciously for weeks in Sirte, one of just two major towns they still control nearly two months since rebels seized the capital Tripoli.

Fighters from the interim Libyan government’s volunteer army walked slowly up the same battle-scarred streets strewn with empty ammunition cases where they had fought fierce clashes a day before. Other fighters searched the damaged houses as a few dazed civilians emerged from their basements.

“More than 80 percent of Sirte is now under our control. Gadhafi’s men are still in parts of the Number Two and the ‘Dollar’ neighborhoods,” said National Transitional Council commander Mustah Hamza.

In the “Number Two” neighborhood, government forces found 25 corpses wrapped in plastic sheets. They accused pro-Gadhafi militias of carrying out execution-style killings.

Five corpses shown to a Reuters team wore civilian clothes and had their hands tied behind their backs and gunshot wounds to the head. An NTC commander said the corpses had been there for at least five days.

Green flags, the banner of Gadhafi’s 42 years in power, still flew above many of the buildings in the neighborhood, but all appeared quiet.

NTC fighters maneuvered a tank into a small side street flooded with sewage from a burst pipe. It fired a few rounds at a large building up ahead, then infantrymen moved in, letting off bursts from their AK-47s as they advanced up the street.

At first, there was very little return of fire from the pro-Gadhafi side. But the government fighters had walked into an ambush. Hit by a hail of RPG and small arms fire, the NTC men scrambled back to safety, one nursing a wound to his hand.

Medical workers at a hospital outside of Sirte said four NTC fighters were killed and 43 others were wounded Wednesday.

As National Transitional Council fighters advance into Sirte the fighting has become street-to-street and house-to-house.

Anyone with a gun is welcome to join the battle.

Some scout the ground ahead by walking down the middle of the street. Others instead run down the street holding their AK47s above their heads while squeezing the trigger. Some spray bullets at empty plots of land or lines of trees.

The fighters frequently have to dive for cover to avoid being hit by so-called “friendly fire.”

Two days ago, fighters brought back a dead comrade shot in the heart. They said he was killed mistakenly by a young fighter who did not know how to use his gun.

The inexperience and naivety of many of the NTC fighters is one of the reasons why the battle for Sirte has been dragging on for weeks.

Most of the government fighters are from elsewhere in Libya and do not know Sirte, where they are in it, or often what it is they are attacking. Every now and then they shout at each other to stop shooting because their own fighters are up ahead.

One young NTC fighter went to the top of a residential building and began firing his AK47 from a hole in the damaged wall.

“What is he firing at? There is nothing there,” barked an angry older comrade. “What kind of war is this? He just wants to be on Al Jazeera.”

Weeks of bombardment followed by street fighting have killed an unknown number of civilians. That has led to fears that reconciliation between Libyans after the war may prove to be very difficult.

“They are families inside fighting for their houses and their children who have died,” said Mohammad, 23, who fled Sirte a few days ago.

In a report released Wednesday, Amnesty International warned the new Libyan authorities to stamp out what they described as a “pattern” of arbitrary detentions and widespread abuse of detainees.

The report findings, based on visits to detention facilities in Tripoli and al-Zawiyah in August and September, found that captured pro-Gadhafi soldiers and alleged mercenaries had been subjected to ill treatment and in some cases torture to extract confessions or as punishment.

“We understand that the transitional authorities are facing many challenges, but if they do not make a clear break with the past now, they will effectively be sending out a message that treating detainees like this is to be tolerated in the new Libya,” the group said in a statement.

Copyright The Daily Star 2011.