Mfarhanonline World News 
SIRTE: Nine powerful explosions shook the city of Sirte, a strategic target for the rebels whose advance towards Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi”s home town was halted on Monday.
The Monday morning blasts followed two explosions on Sunday evening in the city, blamed by Libyan state television on an air raid by coalition forces.
Sirte, 360 kilometres (225 miles) east of Tripoli, is the next target of pro-democracy rebels as they push towards the capital from their eastern bastion Benghazi.
On Monday the rebel advance was halted on the outskirts of Bin Jawad, about 140 kilometres (85 miles) east of Sirte.
The rebels on Sunday seized Bin Jawad after retaking the key oil town of Ras Lanuf as they advanced with the support of coalition air strikes on Kadhafi”s forces.
But on Monday they came under heavy machine-gun fire from regime loyalists in pick-up trucks on the road from Bin Jawad to Nofilia and beyond that Sirte, the Libyan strongman”s home town.
The insurgents pulled back into Bin Jawad and opened up with heavy artillery.
The streets of Sirte, with a population around 120,000 people, were quiet and deserted early on Monday, and it was not immediately possible to establish if the overnight raids had caused any damage. (AFP)
Share and Enjoy:
0 comments :
Post a Comment