Tripoli: Diehards of slain Libyan dictator
Muammar Gaddafi attacked a base in his one-time bastion of
Bani Walid killing at least four ex-rebel fighters and
wounding 20 others on Monday, a local official said.
"There are at least four martyrs from the thuwar
(anti-Gaddafi revolutionaries) and 20 are injured," said
Mahmud Warfelli, spokesman of Bani Walid local council.
He said the attack was launched by "a group of remnants
of the old regime," calling for outside help against a feared
"massacre."
"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 (National
Transitional Council) have let us down," he said.
"We`re out of the frying pan into the fire. We`ve been
warning about this for the past two months," he said.
Another local official, M`barek al-Fotmani, said the
assailants had circled the base of former rebels who helped
topple Gaddafi last year.
"The compound of thuwar is surrounded on all sides by
loyalists of Gaddafi who are attacking it with all kinds of
weapons," said Fotmani, a former NTC member for Bani Walid,
170 kilometres southwest of Tripoli.
"The attackers are carrying green flags," symbol of the
Gaddafi regime, he said from inside the base.
Fotmani said the base belonged to the May 28 Brigade, a
unit of former rebels attached to the defence ministry.
Bani Walid was one of the last pro-Gaddafi bastions to
fall in the bloody uprising against the dictator`s rule.
The capture of Bani Walid was followed by the fall of the
longtime strongman`s hometown Sirte in a battle which also led
to his killing and marked the "liberation" of Libya.
PTI
