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BBC MUNDO RADIO
Sirte falls to NTC; rumors of Qaddafi’s capture circulate
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Anti-Qaddafi fighters carry an injured comrade during clashes in Sirte. (Photo by Reuters)
Libyan interim government fighters captured Muammar Qaddafi’s
home town on Thursday, extinguishing the last significant holdout of
resistance by troops loyal to the deposed leader and ending a two-month
siege.
The capture of Sirte means Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) should now begin the task forging a new democratic system which it had said it would start after the city, built as a showpiece for Qaddafi’s rule, had fallen.
“Sirte has been liberated. There are no Qaddafi forces anymore,” said Colonel Yunus Al Abdali, head of operations in the eastern half of the city. “We are now chasing his fighters who are trying to run away.”
Another commander confirmed the city had been captured and some rebel fighters beeped their car horns and shouted “congratulations” to one another.
Our forces control the last neighborhood in Sirte
The capture of Sirte means Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) should now begin the task forging a new democratic system which it had said it would start after the city, built as a showpiece for Qaddafi’s rule, had fallen.
“Sirte has been liberated. There are no Qaddafi forces anymore,” said Colonel Yunus Al Abdali, head of operations in the eastern half of the city. “We are now chasing his fighters who are trying to run away.”
Another commander confirmed the city had been captured and some rebel fighters beeped their car horns and shouted “congratulations” to one another.
Qaddafi captured?
Our forces control the last neighborhood in Sirte
Hassan Draoua, a member of Libya’s interim National Transitional Council
News reports were conflicting on whether
Qaddafi was arrested. Initially, Libyan TV channels circulated reports
that the embattled leader himself was arrested.
Reuters reported an NTC official as saying that Qaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs.
Libyan NTC fighters said that they were arresting former Libyan officials and medics said that Qaddafi’s defense minister, Abu Bakr Yunis, was dead.
A group of some 40 vehicles carrying Qaddafi forces had broken out of the city and had headed west, NTC fighters said.
“The Qaddafi people broke out west, but the revolutionaries have them surrounded and are dealing with them,” said one of the fighters, Abdul Salam Mohammad.
Reporters at the scene watched as the final assault began around 8 a.m. and ended about 90 minutes later. Just before the assault, about five carloads of loyalists tried to flee the enclave down the coastal highway but were met by gunfire from the revolutionaries, who killed at least 20 of them.
Meanwhile, the troops did not allow reporters to enter the positions formerly held by the Qaddafi loyalists as they said mopping up operations were still underway.
“Our forces control the last neighborhood in Sirte,” Hassan Draoua, a member of Libya’s interim National Transitional Council, told The Associated Press in Tripoli after Sirte’s fall. “The city has been liberated.”
At least 16 pro-Qaddafi fighters were captured, along with multiple cases of ammunition and trucks loaded with weapons. Reporters saw the fighters beating captured Qaddafi men in the back of trucks and officers intervening to stop them.
Reuters reported an NTC official as saying that Qaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs.
Libyan NTC fighters said that they were arresting former Libyan officials and medics said that Qaddafi’s defense minister, Abu Bakr Yunis, was dead.
A group of some 40 vehicles carrying Qaddafi forces had broken out of the city and had headed west, NTC fighters said.
“The Qaddafi people broke out west, but the revolutionaries have them surrounded and are dealing with them,” said one of the fighters, Abdul Salam Mohammad.
Reporters at the scene watched as the final assault began around 8 a.m. and ended about 90 minutes later. Just before the assault, about five carloads of loyalists tried to flee the enclave down the coastal highway but were met by gunfire from the revolutionaries, who killed at least 20 of them.
Meanwhile, the troops did not allow reporters to enter the positions formerly held by the Qaddafi loyalists as they said mopping up operations were still underway.
“Our forces control the last neighborhood in Sirte,” Hassan Draoua, a member of Libya’s interim National Transitional Council, told The Associated Press in Tripoli after Sirte’s fall. “The city has been liberated.”
At least 16 pro-Qaddafi fighters were captured, along with multiple cases of ammunition and trucks loaded with weapons. Reporters saw the fighters beating captured Qaddafi men in the back of trucks and officers intervening to stop them.
Celebratory gunfire
An anti-Qaddafi fighter flashes victory signs on an
armored bulldozer during violent clashes with pro-Qaddafi forces at the
frontline in center Sirte. (Photo by Reuters)
Celebratory gunfire echoed through
Sirte, which fell into the hands of revolutionaries almost two full
months after they overrun Tripoli and many other parts of the oil-rich
North African nation.
It is unclear whether Qaddafi loyalists who have escaped might continue the fight and attempt to organize an insurgency using the vast amount of weapons Qaddafi was believed to have stored in hideouts in the remote southern desert.
Unlike Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Qaddafi had no well-organized political party that could form the basis of an insurgent leadership. However, regional and ethnic differences have already appeared among the ranks of the revolutionaries, possibly laying the foundation for civil strife.
Qaddafi, who is in hiding, has issued several audio recordings trying to rally supporters. Libyan officials have said they believe he's hiding somewhere in the vast southwestern desert near the borders with Niger and Algeria.
He is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of ordering the killing of civilians. He was toppled by rebel forces on August 23 after 42 years of rule over the oil-producing North African state.
It is unclear whether Qaddafi loyalists who have escaped might continue the fight and attempt to organize an insurgency using the vast amount of weapons Qaddafi was believed to have stored in hideouts in the remote southern desert.
Unlike Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Qaddafi had no well-organized political party that could form the basis of an insurgent leadership. However, regional and ethnic differences have already appeared among the ranks of the revolutionaries, possibly laying the foundation for civil strife.
Qaddafi, who is in hiding, has issued several audio recordings trying to rally supporters. Libyan officials have said they believe he's hiding somewhere in the vast southwestern desert near the borders with Niger and Algeria.
He is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of ordering the killing of civilians. He was toppled by rebel forces on August 23 after 42 years of rule over the oil-producing North African state.
Muammar Gaddafi reportedly captured as Libyan forces seize Sirte
Esam Al-Fetori/REUTERS
Anti-Gaddafi fighters celebrate the fall
of Sirte in the town October 20, 2011. Libyan interim government
fighters captured Muammar Gaddafi's home town on Thursday, extinguishing
the last significant resistance by forces loyal to the deposed leader
and ending a two-month siege.
Oct 20, 2011 – 7:32 AM ET
| Last Updated: Oct 20, 2011 7:43 AM ET
By Rania El Gamal and Tim GaynorTRIPOLI — Deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been captured and wounded in both legs, National Transitional Council (NTC) official Abdel Majid said on Thursday.
“He’s captured. He’s wounded in both legs … He’s been taken away by ambulance,” the senior NTC military official told Reuters by telephone.
The U.S. State Department says it cannot confirm the capture, though a Libyan government fighter in Sirte tells Reuters he was an eyewitness. The fighter says Gaddafi was hiding in a hole shouting “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot.”
Libyan interim government fighters captured Muammar Gaddafi’s home town on Thursday, extinguishing the last significant resistance by forces loyal to the deposed leader and ending a two-month siege.
The capture of Sirte means Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) should now begin the task of forging a new democratic system which it had said it would start after the city, built as a showpiece for Gaddafi’s rule, had fallen.
Gaddafi was toppled by rebel forces on August 23 after 42 years of one-man rule over the oil-producing North African state.
“Sirte has been liberated. There are no Gaddafi forces any more,” said Colonel Yunus Al Abdali, head of operations in the eastern half of the city. “We are now chasing his fighters who are trying to run away.”
Government fighters hoisted the red, black and green national flag above a large utilities building in the center of a newly-captured Sirte neighbourhood and celebratory gunfire broke out among their ecstatic and relieved comrades.
“Libya is free from east to west,” cried a young fighter Malik Al Gantri, a young fighter from Tripoli who had been in the battle for Sirte for two weeks. “I hope to go home now,” he said. “I want to see my mother.”
Hundreds of NTC fighters gathered in the center of Sirte shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”), firing guns into the air and dancing in the streets. One of them, a man aged 65 and blind in one eye, rode around on a mountain bike and carrying an AK47 assault rifle and a Libyan flag.
“This is the best day of my life,” said Al Sharash Thawban. “The whole city of Sirte is freed from that criminal Gaddafi.”
But a group of about 40 vehicles carrying around 100 Gaddafi loyalists broke out of the siege early on Thursday morning and had headed west, NTC fighters said.
“They broke out just as we were waking up to pray,” said Dr Abdul Rauf Mohammad, who was among the NTC troops. “The Gaddafi people broke out west, but the revolutionaries have them surrounded and are dealing with them,” said one of the fighters, Abdul Salam Mohammad.
Dozens of NTC pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns raced toward the west in pursuit and the sound of shooting could be heard coming from that direction.
Inside what had been the last redoubt of Gaddafi’s men, an area of low-rise apartment blocks known as Neighborhood Two, was a scene of destruction: gaping holes in buildings, trees stripped of their branches, lamp-posts felled by artillery and traffic lights dangling by their cables.
Reuters saw five dejected-looking Gaddafi prisoners marched down a street, guarded by NTC fighters.
Hundreds of NTC troops have surrounded the Mediterranean coastal town for weeks in a chaotic struggle that has killed and wounded scores of the besieging forces and an unknown number of defenders.
NTC fighters said there were a large number of corpses inside the last redoubts of the Gaddafi troops, but it was not immediately possible to verify the claim.
Thousands of civilians have fled Sirte which had a peacetime population of 75,000 and now lies largely in ruins from the rocket, artillery and tank fire which rained down on the town for weeks.
© Thomson Reuters 2011
'Colonel Gaddafi captured', Libya transitional council official claims
Colonel Gaddafi (Pic: Reuters)
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The senior NTC military official said: "He's captured. He's wounded in both legs ... He's been taken away by ambulance."
A Libyan fighter claimed Gaddafi was hiding in a hole in his hometown of Sirte shouting: "Don't shoot, don't shoot."
It was also reported the head of Gaddafi's armed forces Abu Bakr Younus Jabr had been killed during the capture of the Libyan ex-leader.
However, with previous claims the leader and members of his family had been arrested or killed later proven false, the news was greeted with initial scepticism.
Nato are investigating whether Gaddafi has been held, but an official has warned it will take time to establish whether the reports are true.
A spokeswoman for the US State Department said she could not confirm if Gaddafi had indeed been captured.
State Department spokeswoman Beth Gosselin said: "We've seen the media reports but can't confirm them."
Libyan fighters had earlier overrun the last positions of Gaddafi loyalists holding out in his hometown Sirte.
Colonel Gaddafi pictured in March
An anti-Gaddafi fighter prepares ammunition in the centre of Sirte
An image of Gaddafi next to a copy of the Economist among belongings in a Sirte house
The final push to capture the remaining pro-Gaddafi positions began around 8 am and was over after about 90 minutes.Just before the assault, about five carloads of loyalists tried to flee the enclave down the coastal highway but were killed by revolutionaries.
Revolutionaries began searching homes and buildings looking for any Gaddafi fighters who may be hiding there.
"Our forces control the last neighbourhood in Sirte," said Hassan Draoua, a member of Libya's interim National Transitional Council.
"The city has been liberated."
After the battle, revolutionaries began searching homes and buildings looking for any Gaddafi fighters who may be hiding there. At least 16 pro-Gaddafi fighters were captured, with multiple cases of ammunition and trucks loaded with weapons.
Reporters saw revolutionaries beating captured Gaddafi men in the back of trucks and officers intervening to stop them.
Celebratory gunfire echoed through Sirte, which fell into the hands of revolutionaries almost two full months after they overrun Tripoli and many other parts of the country.
An anti-Gaddafi fighter takes a break during clashes with pro-Gaddafi forces in Sirte
Anti-Gaddafi fighters celebrate the fall of Sirte
A fighter shoots into the air in celebration
A group of fighters celebrate
Anti-Gaddafi fighters celebrate in the back of a pick-up
Despite the fall of Tripoli on August 21, Gaddafi loyalists mounted
fierce resistance in several areas, including Sirte, preventing Libya's
new leaders from declaring full victory in the eight-month civil war.Earlier this week, revolutionary fighters gained control of one stronghold, Bani Walid, and by Tuesday said they had squeezed Gaddafi 's forces in Sirte into a residential area of about 700 square metres but were still coming under heavy fire from surrounding buildings.
Deputy defence minister Fawzi Abu Katif said on Wednesday that authorities still believe Gaddafi's son Muatassim is among the ex-regime figures holed up in the diminishing area in Sirte. He was not seen on the ground after the final battle today.
In an illustration of how difficult and slow the fighting for Sirte was, it took the anti-Gaddafi fighters two days to capture a single residential building.
It is unclear whether Gaddafi loyalists who have escaped might continue the fight and attempt to organise an insurgency using the vast amount of weapons Gaddafi was believed to have stored in hideouts in the remote southern desert.
Unlike Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi had no well-organised political party that could form the basis of an insurgent leadership. However, regional and ethnic differences have already appeared among the ranks of the revolutionaries, possibly laying the foundation for civil strife.
Gaddafi issued several audio recordings trying to rally supporters. Libyan officials have previously said they believe he is hiding somewhere in the vast south-western desert near the borders with Niger and Algeria.
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