Bani Walid

"LandepNews"

Bani Walid

Libya’s National Transitional Council forces announced on Monday that the flag of the country has been raised over the city of Bani Walid, one of the few strongholds remained loyal to Muammar al-Qaddafi.
The announcement did not make it clear whether the city had been completely taken by the NTC troops. One of the colonels that led the attack said that his troops entered Bani Walid centre and raised the flag there.
Bani Walid is the city of the Warfalla, the biggest Libyan tribe with about one million people out of the six million Libyan population. Warfalla people were traditionally supporters of Qaddafi’s regime.
This is why the siege on Bani Walid lasted for weeks, as hundreds of loyalists resisted in the valleys and the hills against the NTC forces.
As the troops wanted to press on with the military action, NTC sought to negotiate a surrender with the elders of the tribe that rule Bani Walid. On Monday, a group claiming to represent the people in the town issued a truce offer to NTC.
According to the truce terms, they pledged allegiance to the NTC in return for the governmental troops withdrawal from Bani Walid and the taking over of the city by the members of the group. It was not clear what the response of the NTC was.
NTC forces continued to be engaged in fire trade with the loyalists of Muammar al Qaddafi in the city of Sirte, the birthplace of the former leader.
Last week the NTC forces announced that they had entered the city and take hold of the university, the municipal hospital, and the conference center Qaddafi wanted to turn into the capital of the African continent.
Still, the fighting continues as the loyalists refuse to surrender the city. NTC troops have bombarded parts of the city where they believed that the people loyal to the former regime were amassed.
Soldiers in the field expressed their irritation that an advancement has not been declared by their commanding officers. It is estimated by the medical authorities that about 10,000 people are still trapped in the city that once had a population of 75,000 people.
After weeks of siege, the city that was intended to become the capital city of all Africa is in ruins, scores of people have died tens of thousands have been displaced, and the loyalists continue to fight.
The NTC announced that there will be no victory declared against the regime of Qaddafi until the city of Sirte is taken. They fear that until the last stronghold of the former regime is captured, victory is not secure, especially with Qaddafi on the loose.
Over the weekend, the new authorities of the country were confronted with an attack in Tripoli, as a few hundred loyalists took it to the streets shooting at the rebel troops in a few neighborhoods known as loyal to Qaddafi.
NTC troops said that they had been told by Qaddafi to take arms and fight against the new regime. The assault in Tripoli is the first sign of rebellion against the new regime since it took Tripoli in August.

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