Die-hard Qaddafi loyalists in last ditch Libya battle; NATO deal reopens airspace

Fighters loyal to Muammar Gaddafi fought a last-ditch battle in an ever shrinking pocket of resistance in the ousted leader’s hometown Sirte on Thursday, as Libya’s interim government said that parts of the war-torn country’s airspace has reopened to commercial flights

National Transitional Council (NTC) commanders moved up tanks to fire at buildings from close range to try to dislodge the remaining Gaddafi snipers who are now surrounded on all sides in one small part of the city.

“We have control of the whole of the city except neighborhood ‘Number Two’ where the Qaddafi forces are surrounded,” said Khaled Alteir, a field commander in Sirte.

“This operation is on its dying breath,” said another commander, Colonel Mohammad Aghfeer.

The siege of Sirte, which began after the capital Tripoli fell to the NTC two months ago, has held up Libya’s transition to normality as the country’s new leaders say they will only start building a democratic system after the city is captured.

Qaddafi is believed to be hiding somewhere in Libya’s vast desert in the south of the country.