Transitional Libyan government forces with heavy guns mounted on about 100 vehicles swept into Sirte yesterday in one of the biggest assaults yet in the battle for Muammar Qaddafi’s hometown, but had to seek cover when they drew withering fire from his diehard loyalists.
Fighters with the National Transitional Council (NTC) shouted “Allahu Akbar” or “God is great” as their pickup trucks set off. They pushed into a residential district on the southern side of the Mediterranean coastal city.
However, they were forced to scramble for refuge under heavy fire from pro-Qaddafi fighters in an apartment complex, a reporter on the scene reported. Two NTC fighters were killed and three wounded in the exchanges.
“They’re fighting us fiercely because, for sure, Mo’tassim is inside [Sirte],” said Abdulrazaq Haroun, one of the NTC commanders in the city. He was referring to one of Qaddafi’s fugitive sons, who has been spotted in Sirte.
Taking Sirte would bring Libya’s new rulers closer to their goal of establishing control of the entire country almost two months after they seized the capital Tripoli, but they are also under pressure to spare the civilians trapped inside.
The NTC forces have thrust Qaddafi loyalists back from defensive positions well outside Sirte, and are now contesting control of the center of the city in often-chaotic street-by-street battles.
The prolonged struggle to capture the few remaining bastions of pro-Qaddafi loyalists has sidetracked NTC efforts to set up effective government over the sprawling North African country and rebuild oil production vital to its economy.
Thousands of civilians have fled Sirte as fighting has intensified, describing increasingly desperate conditions for those inside the seafront city.
“We could not understand who was firing,” said Milad Abdul Rahim, who was heading out of Sirte. “It is just random.”
Hassan Massoud drove out of the city in a pick-up truck with his family in the cab and luggage teetering on the back. He said he decided to leave after his neighbor’s house was hit.
“It was single-story. It collapsed on them. It killed a man and a girl,” he said.
Along with the interior desert town of Bani Walid, Sirte is one of the last redoubts of Qaddafi loyalists in the country he ruled alone for 42 years.
It presents a particular challenge for Libya’s new rulers. A drawn-out battle with many civilian casualties will breed hostility that will make it very difficult for the NTC to unite the country once the fighting is over.
The senior UN official in Libya, Ian Martin, appealed to NTC fighters on Friday not to aggravate those tensions by exacting violent revenge against Qaddafi supporters in Sirte.
“We are expressing our concern that the situation ends in a way that lays the foundations for national reconciliation rather than exacerbates the problems that a new government will face,” Martin said in an interview.
The start of yesterday’s offensive was delayed by a sandstorm that engulfed Sirte, and reduced visibility to about 200m.
NTC fighters said pro-Qaddafi forces controlled the Ouagadougou conference center — where the deposed leader used to host Arab and African heads of state at sumptuous summits — and the university and hospital.
They said they were using these buildings to direct sniper and mortar fire at the attacking NTC forces.
One anti-Qaddafi fighter said that instead of sending in men on foot to locate the snipers, they were now identifying their firing positions from a distance and blasting the buildings where they were hiding with heavy weapons.
“What made us tired is the snipers,” said the fighter, Abdelsalam al-Rishy. “We’re now using RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] to deal with the snipers.”
NTC officials say they believe Muammar Qaddafi himself is not in Sirte but far to the south in the Sahara desert.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft