ANTI-GADAFY forces yesterday captured Sirte, the birthplace of Muammar Gadafy and his final coastal stronghold, after a day of heavy fighting.
In a dawn attack opposition forces mounted in 900 technicals – pick-up trucks mounting machine-guns or missile launchers – broke through the loyalist front line 30 miles west of the city and by nightfall said they were in control of all entrances to the city.
Misurata’s military council, which controlled the offensive, said loyalist forces of the 32nd brigade, commanded by Col Gadafy’s son Khamis, were trapped in a series of beachfront hotels, with other elements surrounded in a city-centre insurance building. The council said rebel forces were combing the city searching for senior administration officials thought to be hiding in the town.
Nato jets were visible in the skies above, having destroyed seven targets in Sirte the night before. This was the continuation of an air bombardment that had seen 296 targets hit in the city over the past three weeks.
Gadafy loyalists had fought back with artillery, rockets and mortars, but anti-Gadafy forces said the front line cracked at midday, with units fleeing.
The attack came six days after the expiry of a deadline for the city to surrender, set by National Transitional Council president Mustafa Abdul Jalil. Interim government sources say the attack was ordered because negotiations over the city’s peaceful surrender had stalled. There were also fears that Gadafy tribe militiamen had begun to target Sirte civilians originally from Misurata.
These civilians, mostly merchants and businessmen, are clustered around the central First District of the city, and an anti-Gadafy fighter, who escaped the city earlier in the week, said the area had been surrounded by militias, and power, water and food supplies had been cut.
“Answering to the call of our people in the city of Sirte and in order to remove the injustice inflicted upon them by the ousted tyrant, more than 900 armed car(s) went toward Sirte this morning,” said Misurata’s military council.
One anti-Gadafy fighter was reportedly killed and three more were wounded. However, that figure is expected to rise as ambulances return to Misurata, 150 miles from Sirte. No figure was given by either side for casualties on the pro-Gadafy side.
Sirte is the toughest of four remaining settlements still in loyalist hands, but is the only one on the coast. Its position astride the main coastal highway effectively cuts Libya in two.
A hard struggle to capture Sirte was always likely – before the war, Col Gadafy poured money into construction and social programmes in support of his tribe.
Anti-Gadafy forces also expect to find key officials hiding in the city, including possibly the deposed leader himself and his son Saif-al Islam.
The attack may also have a political dimension, with leaders of Misurata, Libya’s third city, accusing the National Transitional Council of being dominated by figures from Benghazi to the east.
Since the war began in March, Misurata’s leaders have refused to take orders from the council, and yesterday’s attack took place without support from its units based 60 miles east of Sirte.