Street battles rage in Libya

Revolutionary fighters struggled to expand the offensive into Muammar Gaddafi's hometown yesterday with street-by-street battles and commanders seeking to open a new front against loyalist forces fiercely defending the most symbolic stronghold of the shattered regime. The fresh assaults into the seaside city of Sirte contrasted with a stalemate in the mountain enclave of Bani Walid where demoralised anti-Gaddafi forces tried to regroup after being beaten back by the former dictator's snipers and gunners holding strategic high ground. Sirte, however, remains the big prize for both sides. Rain of mortars Anti-Gaddafi fighters backed by heavy machine guns and rockets tried to push through crowded residential areas in the city but were met with a rain of gunfire and mortars. A field hospital set up outside Sirte at a gas station filled with wounded revolutionary militiamen, including those on a convoy hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. In earlier battles, Gaddafi's gunmen fired from mosque minarets and high-rise buildings. At least three anti-Gaddafi fighters were killed yesterday, said Dr Ayab Bassin as he worked amid bloodstained bandages. Gaddafi's spokesman, Mousa Ebrahim, claimed loyalists are in no danger of losing the city. "We have the ability to continue this resistance for months," he said.