▲ 또 하나의 요새 시르테 사진ⓒ AP통신

[트리폴리=신화통신/] "리비아 집권 국가과도위원회의 한 관리는 16일(현지시간) 실각된 무아마르 카다피 추종세력의 마지막 잔존 요새 중의 하나였던 ‘바니 왈리드’가 평정됐다고 발표했다.

바니 왈리드의 180km 남쪽 전선의 대변인인 마무드 토피크씨는 신화통신에 NTC(국가과도위원회) 전사들이 17일(현지시간) 3개 방향으로 바니 왈리드 시에 진입한 후 서로 개통을 했다고 전했다.

NTC가 그동안 난공불락의 지형적 여건 때문에 공격진들에게 장애물로 애를 먹였던 바니 왈리드에 과도정부의 3색기들을 게양할 수 있었다는 현지 언론의 보도들도 이미 흘러나왔었다.

도시의 완전 평정(the liberation)에 대한 공식적인 발표가 아마도 가능할 수도 있을 것이라고 토피크 대변인은 말했다.

(이하 내용, 신화통신 원문 참조)

TRIPOLI, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- An official of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) said Sunday that Bani Walid, one of a couple of remaining strongholds of fallen leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been "liberated. Mahmoud Tawfiq, a spokesman of the southern front in Bani Walid, some 180 km southeast of the capital Tripoli, told Xinhua that the NTC fighters will "dock with" each other on Monday after entering the city 　　　from three sides.
The information was accompanied by earlier reporters on the local media that the NTC has been able to erect their tricolor flags in the Bani Walid, which has been a challenge for offensives for its difficult geography.

An official announcement (of the liberation) might be made Monday, Tawfiq said.
The fighters will then begin searching for the remaining pockets of Gaddafi loyalists who have been fought the NTC soldiers in the oasis town for weeks.

Tawfiq said that the southern front fighters, in collaboration with fighters 　　　from other towns such as Gharyan, were able to enter the city heart and will be meeting with the eastern and western squads.

He added that field hospitals near Bani Walid have received many civilians who fled on Saturday the front line town, 　　　where the humanitarian situation has been terrible due to the acute shortage of water, food, fuel and power.

The information of the "liberation" of Bani Walid cannot be independently verified at the current stage, but Salah Matouk, a field commander in Bani Walid also indicated the NTC's control over the town, 　　　where a number of pro-Gaddafi soldiers and mercenaries had been captured.

Matouk told local channel Liberal that the Bani Walid battle has been resolved completely in favor of the NTC fighters, who are now waiting for Monday morning to start the mopping-up operations.

On Saturday, a NTC source has said that the authorities had besieged Gaddafi's loyalists in Bani Walid, who had run short of ammunition and supplies.

The NTC is able to free the majority of the city, Mahmoud Boras, a member of the Media Committee of the local council of Bani Walid, was quoted as saying by the local media.

The fighters have "liberated" a hospital and an industrial district in Bani Walid, while they have also made progress in a market area with the exception of some sites occupied by snipers, Boras said.

He pointed out that it is the time to negotiate with the fugitive Gaddafi remnants scattered in parts of Bani Walid, stressing that the "liberation" of the city is imminent.