Ben Farmer and Barney Henderson
London Telegraph
October 20, 2011
Sirte – Muammar Gaddafi’s last stronghold – has fallen to rebel fighters after days of bloodshed.
In the early hours of the morning, at least five cars carrying loyalist fighters attempted to escape the city, but most were rounded up and killed by revolutionaries.
Rebels then moved into the city’s Number Two residential neighbourhood, which was the last pocket of pro-Gaddafi resistance left in the war-torn country.
“Sirte has been liberated. There are no Gaddafi forces any more,” said Col 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.”
However, there were reports that Gaddafi loyalists had donned civilian clothing and were firing indiscriminately at people.
2 Responses to “Libya: capture of Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte ‘complete’”
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New leaders in Libya are expected to continue the Gaddafi freebies, but that will be impossible without revenues at pre-war levels. Oil companies will share less of their profits with a government of weak leaders. Gaddafi will be missed by the poor who cannot spend their hard won freedom.
Translation:
Sirte flattened by NATO bombardments to the point that there’s not much left to defend.
“Sirte has been annihilated. There are no civilians any more,” said Col Yunus Al Abdali, head of terrorist operations in the eastern half of the city. “We are now chasing the refugees who are trying to run away.”
Seems more fitting. Fun fact though, they’re standing on DU-bombed ground breathing in radiation. Karmic justice perhaps?