British warplanes strike in Gadhafi's hometown
Source: Agencies |
August 27, 2011, Saturday
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BRITISH warplanes struck a large bunker in Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, his largest remaining stronghold, yesterday as NATO turned its attention to loyalist forces trying to hold back advancing Libyan rebels in the area.
The airstrikes came a day after fierce clashes in the Tripoli, which remained tense as rebels hunted for the elusive leader and his allies, detaining suspected loyalists along the way.
Rebels were searching for the remnants of pro-Gadhafi forces in the capital's Abu Salim area, which saw heavy fighting on Thursday.
The rebels had detained seven men and a woman and loaded them into a pickup truck in a rural area between Abu Salim and the airport, saying Gadhafi forces might be trying to blend in with civilians.
"Things are still not stable and we are arresting anybody we find suspicious and taking them to the military council," said field commander Fathi Shneibi.
At a clinic attached to an Abu Salim fire station, injured men believed to be Gadhafi supporters or fighters were left moaning and calling for water.
One of the wounded said he was from Niger and denied any links to Gadhafi. Asked why he was in Libya, he said: "I really don't know."
Elsewhere, dozens of decomposing bodies were piled up in an abandoned hospital. It was not clear when the men had been killed. The floors were covered with shattered glass and bloodstains, and medical equipment was strewn about.
One room had 21 bodies lying on gurneys, with 20 more in a courtyard next to the parking lot - all darker skinned than most Libyans. Gadhafi had recruited fighters from sub-Saharan Africa.
At the first Friday prayers since Tripoli fell to the rebels, hundreds of people crowded a mosque in the center of the capital, listening as the imam praised the rebels.
He said they had "liberated the land inch by inch, house by house, alley by alley," using a famous phrase from a Gadhafi speech against the uprising.
Hearing the phrase, worshippers laughed or shouted: "Allahu Akbar!"
Meanwhile, the opposition's National Transitional Council announced it was moving from Benghazi to Tripoli.
The airstrikes came a day after fierce clashes in the Tripoli, which remained tense as rebels hunted for the elusive leader and his allies, detaining suspected loyalists along the way.
Rebels were searching for the remnants of pro-Gadhafi forces in the capital's Abu Salim area, which saw heavy fighting on Thursday.
The rebels had detained seven men and a woman and loaded them into a pickup truck in a rural area between Abu Salim and the airport, saying Gadhafi forces might be trying to blend in with civilians.
"Things are still not stable and we are arresting anybody we find suspicious and taking them to the military council," said field commander Fathi Shneibi.
At a clinic attached to an Abu Salim fire station, injured men believed to be Gadhafi supporters or fighters were left moaning and calling for water.
One of the wounded said he was from Niger and denied any links to Gadhafi. Asked why he was in Libya, he said: "I really don't know."
Elsewhere, dozens of decomposing bodies were piled up in an abandoned hospital. It was not clear when the men had been killed. The floors were covered with shattered glass and bloodstains, and medical equipment was strewn about.
One room had 21 bodies lying on gurneys, with 20 more in a courtyard next to the parking lot - all darker skinned than most Libyans. Gadhafi had recruited fighters from sub-Saharan Africa.
At the first Friday prayers since Tripoli fell to the rebels, hundreds of people crowded a mosque in the center of the capital, listening as the imam praised the rebels.
He said they had "liberated the land inch by inch, house by house, alley by alley," using a famous phrase from a Gadhafi speech against the uprising.
Hearing the phrase, worshippers laughed or shouted: "Allahu Akbar!"
Meanwhile, the opposition's National Transitional Council announced it was moving from Benghazi to Tripoli.
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