Closing in on Gaddafi
Image via Wikipedia...The YouTube at the link above shows people milling about while gunfire can be heard in the background. Gaddafi's world appears to be shrinking to the area around his bunker. Opposition forces may be laying siege to that area soon.
In signs that Tripoli was coming under pressure from the protests that had spread from the east of the country, anti-regime protesters were emboldened to attempt to march to the city's central Green Square, amid unconfirmed reports that a vital airbase on the outskirts of the capital had fallen into opposition hands. Armed militia backing the embattled Libyan President fired on the marchers from roofs as they emerged from Friday prayers chanting anti-Gaddafi slogans, killing at least four people in several parts of the city, according to some witnesses. In a video given to The Independent, gunmen are seen apparently shooting at protesters. The crack of gunfire is heard as people start running for their lives.
Some residents claimed that there were now neighbourhoods of the capital under opposition control. Others, including the area where the dictator is thought to have a fortified bunker, remained under regime control. Witnesses claimed that armed Gaddafi supporters were also driving at speed through Tripoli's streets.
"The government is panicking and retreating more and more into the centre of Tripoli. There is fear on both sides," one man who fled the city told The Independent. "The government militias are fearful and so are the demonstrators. They will just continue to shoot all the demonstrators and a lot more people will die."
The Mitiga military airbase in the north-east of the city, used earlier for launching helicopter gunship attacks on civilian protesters, was rumoured to have defected or otherwise passed to the control of anti-government forces. Witnesses later reported heavy police and troop deployments on the road between Mitiga and the capital's centre.
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The Gaddafi "resistance" appears to be limited to fast moving vehicles firing shots randomly. They may fear that if they slow down, they will be overwhelmed.
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