NTC wins coup in Gaddafi strongholds

Libyan revolutionaries say they have achieved great gains in their efforts to take command of the last two northern cities still under the control of the pro-Gaddafi forces, Press TV reports.

On Sunday, the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC)’s fighters seized an airport in Bani Walid and the Ouagadougou conference center, the Ibn Sina Hospital, and the city’s university in Sirte — the deposed fugitive dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown.

The forces, however, say Gaddafi’s mercenaries and their use of civilians as human shields is complicating their advancement.

“This restricts us from having the upper hand in our assaults because of the presence of civilians in the city,” said Mohammed el-Har, an NTC field commander from the west of Sirte.

“Gaddafi forces have also stopped civilians from leaving the city” — where thousands of civilians are reportedly trapped — he added.

Earlier in the day, NTC Chairman, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, had said in the capital, Tripoli, that he believed “the liberation of these cities will happen within this week.”

Libya has been the scene of intense fighting between government troops and the fighters since a revolution seeking to topple Gaddafi began in mid-February.

According to Abdel Jalil, at least 25,000 people have been killed and a further 50,000 injured during the revolution.

The revolutionary forces seized control of much of the capital in a landmark advancement on August 21, without facing significant resistance from the regime forces.