Al Jazeera.Last Modified: 23 Jan 2012 23:54
Fighting erupts in Libya's Bani Walid  
Four NTC fighters reportedly killed in one of the last towns to surrender to the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi.

Supporters of slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have seized control of Bani Walid town after clashes with a group loyal to the new government in which four people were killed.

"The fighting continued from around 3 O'clock to around 7 O'clock. The rebels [are] pulled out from Bani Walid right now," Mohamed Bashir, the town's mayor, told Al Jazeera late on Monday, referring to the country's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) as "rebels".

"We don't see fighting right now, but there are a lot of casualties. Between 20-to-25 [were] killed in that clash.

"Tomorrow morning, the situation will probably be much better,  A military force [will] take over bani walid, to take back security," he said.

A resident of the town, about 200km southeast of Tripoli, said the fight on Monday used heavy weaponry, including 106-mm anti-tank guns, and that 20 people were wounded.

The assault was the first major offensive launched by Gaddafi loyalists since his overthrow and assassination.

"There are around 100 and 150 men armed with heavy weapons who are attacking. We have asked for the army to intervene, but the defence ministry and NTC have let us down," Mahmud Warfelli, a spokesperson for the Bani Walid local council, said.

"[The gunmen] took control and hoisted the green flag on some important districts in the centre of the city," he said, referring to the Gaddafi-era flag.

"We've been warning about this for the past two months."

Last stronghold

Bani Walid, base of the powerful Warfallah tribe, was one of the last towns in Libya to surrender to the uprising that toppled Gaddafi last year. Many people in the area still oppose the country's new leadership.

The violence in Bani Walid first broke out when members of the May 28 group arrested some Gaddafi loyalists.


 

That prompted other supporters of the former leader to attack the group's garrison in the town, according to the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"They massacred men at the doors of the militia headquarters," the the resident said.

Fathi Baja, a senior NTC member, said that ambulances were unable to evacuate those wounded because there were "snipers positioned on a school and a mosque in the vicinity" of the attack.

Fotmani said later that Gaddafi loyalists had taken all the heavy weaponry from the NTC garrison, and that they had set on fire the local council's main building.

"Yesterday they had distributed leaflets saying 'We will be back soon. We will take the rats out'," he said.

NTC struggling

Libya's NTC has already been struggling with violent protests in its stronghold city of Benghazi and the resignation of its second most senior official.


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An air force official told Reuters that jets were being mobilised to fly to Bani Walid. In Tripoli, there were signs of security being tightened, Reuters reporters in the city said.

During Libya's nine-month civil war, fighters opposed to Gaddafi fought for months to take Bani Walid.

Local tribal elders eventually agreed to let NTC fighters enter the town, but relations have been uneasy since and there have been occasional flare-ups of violence.

In November last year, several people were killed in Bani Walid when an armed group from Tripoli's Souq al-Juma district arrived in the town to try to arrest some local men.

Re-taking control of the town is a challenge due to natural defences. Anyone approaching from the north has to descend into a deep valley and then climb up the other side, giving defenders an advantage.

It was this landscape, in part, that prevented opposition fighters from taking the town during the civil war, despite the fact they were heavily armed
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/2012123182559826642.html

what are they still fighting for? After-all they can bring gaddfi back

Good move let them keep it up.

not surprised

Where is cap28?   . You are still in the UK?  

@Topic,let NTC kill them,am sure they are from chad,niger and posibly kastina.

Another Iraq just emerged.I thought Ghadafi was the evil man here ?

Long Live the Green resistance. Brave fighters against imperialism and treacherous Libyans called the NTC.
RIP the great Muammar Al-Gaddafi. Your legacy remains in the heart of those who seek truth and don't believe all the lies by imperialist media.

[img]http://tclehner.files./2011/01/muammar-al-gaddafi-lybia2.jpg[/img]

Bad news for Libya worse news for Nigeria.

~Bluetooth:


Another Iraq just emerged.I thought Ghadafi was the evil man here ?

Yeah you're right. When Muammar was there we never heard any news of killings or tribal militias fighting. Check the internet before 2011, you cannot even point at any bomb blast or sporadic killing in Libya. Right now, Libya's turned into a battleground for feuding tribes, trigger happy Islamic militants and puppet regime ready to sell oil for a cheap price to the West. Now on a rational, neutral ground, we have to be biased if we know who the bad guys are.

the west will be laughing,
a divided libya where both sides will be trading oil for weapons,another failed state in africa.
the Nato lead rebel rats should have known better,treacherous maddaffakas.
the green libya will rise again

libya and their business

they wont get far

What are they fighting for? to bring Ghadafi back or what?

kizito96:

What are they fighting for? to bring Ghadafi back or what?

Gaddafi is dead and gone. But when seeing one's dear leader being abused, beaten and sodomized, its enough to make some people go renegade. Many western leaders have committed heinous crimes worse than Gaddafi but have you ever seen the leaders being left to their enemies to be dehumanised in such a dastard way?

Gaddafi was loved by many people and those loyalists are the one's holding up the Green resistance still fighting for his cause against imperialism and control of Libyan resources.

R.I.P Gadafi

why this thing make the front page anyway?

kizito96:

What are they fighting for? to bring Ghadafi back or what?

Saif Gaddafi is still alive and has not been handed over to the NTC or ICC.

Slowly support for the Gaddafi's will emerge and the NTC rats will be banished.

This sounds like Nigeria's future in years to come if we don't buckle up.

hbrednic:

the west will be laughing,
a divided libya where both sides will be trading oil for weapons,another failed state in africa.
the Nato lead rebel rats should have known better,treacherous maddaffakas.
the green libya will rise again

velo10:

Yeah you're right. When Muammar was there we never heard any news of killings or tribal militias fighting. Check the internet before 2011, you cannot even point at any bomb blast or sporadic killing in Libya. Right now, Libya's turned into a battleground for feuding tribes, trigger happy Islamic militants and puppet regime ready to sell oil for a cheap price to the West. Now on a rational, neutral ground, we have to be biased if we know who the bad guys are.

i wish they understood the consequences of civil war sponsor by the Imperalist.ife ti oloko ni si ewure ko ju pipa je lo. the love the farmer have for the goat did not go beyond consumption

velo10:

Long Live the Green resistance. Brave fighters against imperialism and treacherous Libyans called the NTC.
RIP the great Muammar Al-Gaddafi. Your legacy remains in the heart of those who seek truth and don't believe all the lies by imperialist media.

[img]http://tclehner.files./2011/01/muammar-al-gaddafi-lybia2.jpg[/img]

THIS IS WAR WITHOUT END-IRAQ PART 2-AFRICA WAKE UP FROM YOUR SLUMBER.

Libya without mad-dog has a bright future, they fight and reconcile, a country ruled by one family for 42yrs can't be rebuild in just couple of months.

One thing is clear . . . Gaddafi is gone for good!!

Now stop ranting and face boko haram

Challas:

THIS IS WAR WITHOUT END-IRAQ PART 2-AFRICA WAKE UP FROM YOUR SLUMBER.

When he said blacks are animals,you didnt say anything.
@justwise,they think rome was built in a day. Don't be suprised,iran or china or even russia will be behind it.

LIBYA!LIBYA!!LIBYA!!!GADDAFI HAD TRIED TO GATHER YOU,BUT YOU HAVE BEEN BLINDED BY MUSTRATA BECOS HE DIDN'T ALLOW THEM TO CONTINUE WITH THE SHARIA LAW.THIS IS A MAN WHO GAVE LIBYANS EVERYTHING,THEY NEED.MONTHLY ALLOWANCE FOR EVERY LIBYANS FROM THE DAY THEY WERE BORN TO THE DAY THEY DIE.THE HARDEST JOB A LIBYA DOES IS DRIVING AND POLICE.LIBYANS LIFE GOES LIKE THESE SLEEP -FOOD-DRIVING AROUND LOOKING FOR TROUBLE THEN BACK TO SLEEP.WHEN U SEE A QUENE IN LIBYA,JST KNOW THAT IT EITHER FOOD STUFF OR MONTHLY ALLOWANCES.FREE FOODS,MONEY,HEALTH,SCHOOL INCLUDING HIGHER LEVEL,NO TAXES,NO WATER AND ELETRICITY BILLS E.T.C IN LIBYA SAT TO THUR IS WORKING DAY EXPECT FRIDAY THE HOLY DAY.THE PROBLEM OF LIBYA JUST WANTED TO START BECOS INSIDE TRIPOLI SEF NA DIE.LIBYANS ARE 2FACE BECOS LIBYANS NOW IN TRIPOLI,BENGHAZI AND SIRT DON THEY SHOUT HIS NAME.SUDAN,SOMALIA,IRAQ AND MAYBE LIBYA

[

Gerrard59:





When he said blacks are animals,you didnt say anything.
@justwise,they think rome was built in a day. Don't be suprised,iran or china
r even russia will be behind it.

Gaddafee is gone and gone for ever, ur rantings can't bring the lockerbie backer back. Face your growing islamic fundamentalism.



@seunny4lif, it was libya money he used,so don't termed it as a LUXURYYYYYYYYYYYYY.

Don't mind two faced Nigerians, crying about Libya while bomb is going off everyday in Nigeria

Use.less ppl after givin out 35% of their oil they are still fighting. Those that took their oil should come & fight 4 them. This is the Genesis of war in Libya

he he he he
This is the future Nigeria.

Nigerians you are looking at the future Nigeria.

velo10:

Long Live the Green resistance. Brave fighters against imperialism and treacherous Libyans called the NTC.
RIP the great Muammar Al-Gaddafi. Your legacy remains in the heart of those who seek truth and don't believe all the lies by imperialist media.

[img]http://tclehner.files./2011/01/muammar-al-gaddafi-lybia2.jpg[/img]

You are very intelligent Nigerian and have good understanding of what is happening in Libya. Many Nigerians have no clue what happened or happening in Libya. All they know is Gaddafi is Evil. Why? Because the mainstream media told them so. Keep up the good work my brother and over time, people will realize the blood suckers aka international bankers/world bank and western countries that want to suck the blood out of Africa. People didn't realize that hundreds of thousands died in Bani walid, Sirte and Sahba during the NATO occupation aka No Fly Zone. Did the mainstream show you this? No, they will never because the same people that are waging all these wars are the owners and sponsors of CNN, ABC, BBC, NBC, FOX, AL JAZEERA, E .T.C

Many of you who have negative view about Gaddafi? Let me ask you this: If he was a dictator and reportedly stole billions of dollars as they claim he did, why would he sacrifice his life? He would have taken the ease way out, take all the money and fly to Zimbabwe, Venezuela or neighboring Niger and enjoy his life. But instead, because he knew these people he was fighting with and chose to die for his country.  Don't forget 3 of his sons died also. Why would these young men with estimated billions of dollars under their belts want to die for country/father? They too, especially young men like them with many more years to enjoy in this world,  would have chosen to fled like their brothers to Algeria or Niger and enjoy. However, when you know the enemy you are dealing with and understand that they don't give a damn about you or your people, its better you die. However, If you choose to live, they are coming after you.

Hail Gaddafi, One of Greatest african leaders

Not surprised that libya is still at war within cos thats the way it is.

Any war in recent decades led by the US will always led to more war within.

IRAQ » AFGHANISTAN »» LIBYA »»»»»»»»»»» Nigeria?
I hope not but with the current realties of bangers (i means bombings) in northern nigeria?

Anyone that didnt foresee this coming must be either short-sighted or plain unintelligent