SIRTE, Libya — Revolutionary fighters assaulted Moammar Khadafy’s hometown from all sides Friday in what they hope will be a final all-out offensive to crush resistance in the most important bastion of regime loyalists.
Libya’s new leaders say Sirte’s fall is critical to formally declaring liberation and setting a timeline for elections — even if fighting persists elsewhere and the ousted leader is nowhere to be found — more than six weeks after the then-rebels seized control of the capital and most other parts of the country.
Smoke drifted over the skyline and explosions thundered throughout the besieged city, as long lines of civilians fleeing by car formed at checkpoints manned by revolutionary forces.
Anti-Khadafy fighters pushed into the Mediterranean coastal city from the west, east and south in heavy fighting, trying to squeeze his supporters into a smaller and smaller perimeter. The two sides battered each other with rockets, mortar shells and tank fire, as Khadafy snipers fired down on fighters advancing through housing complexes.
Friday’s push marked the largest new assault on the city in weeks. The former rebels had said they were delaying a final push to allow civilians to escape.
A U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said 80 percent of the city was pacified or under the control of the transitional government. The official said the remaining area might take a little more time as forces move methodically to eliminate the resistance.
Related
UNITED STATES: Obama pledges aid for Tunisia.
President Barack Obama pledged U.S. support for Tunisia’s political and economic development, as he welcomed the North African nation’s prime minister, Beji Caid Essebsi, to the White House.
Following the meeting, the White House announced plans to work with Congress to provide up to $30 million in loan guarantees to Tunisia and to launch a $20 million Tunisia Enterprise Fund to support private-sector growth.
LIBYA: Commanders say involvement by NATO may be near end.
Top military commanders in the Libyan mission told Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Friday that they are nearing a turning point in the NATO operation that could signal its end, a senior defense official said.
Commanders meeting with Panetta in Naples, Italy, told him that ousted leader Moammar Khadafy no longer has control of regime forces and that opposition troops could be within days of wresting control of the key city of Sirte, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meetings were private.
SYRIA: Troops open fire, killing protesters.
Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters in several parts of the country Friday, killing at least eight people and wounding scores, while masked gunmen burst into an apartment in the predominantly Kurdish northeast and shot dead one of Syria’s most prominent opposition figures.
The slaying of Mashaal Tammo, a 53-year-old former political prisoner and a spokesman for the Kurdish Future Party, was the latest in a string of targeted killings in Syria as the country slides further into disorder.
Denver Post wire services
