Libya's interim government forces have retreated from Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, after fighters loyal to the former leader mounted stiff resistance to an attempt to seize the city.
National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters said on Sunday that they were making a "tactical retreat" from the coastal city, a day after entering the centre of Sirte in a major push to take the area.
Explosions rocked the city and plumes of smoke rose into the sky a day earlier, as NTC fighters backed with rockets and heavy artillery launched attacks and Gaddafi's forces returned fire with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
But Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from the outskirts of Sirte, said NTC fighters were forced to pull back "after a fierce and intense battle. Both sides were using heavy power".
An NTC commander told our correspondent that the forces retreated because there were not enough to hold territory, and they had endured a high casualty toll among their ranks.
"In fact the casualty toll on Saturday was nine dead among the anti-Gaddafi fighters and up to 97 wounded, mostly as a result of snipers' fire," Khodr said.
"We have to remember these are inexperienced fighters."
Tactical retreat
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/2011925104532777522.html
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