Libyan pro-government men celebrate in the streets of Bani Walid Wednesday after seizing control of the city, one of the last bastions of Muammar Gaddafi’s ousted regime. — AFPGeorge GranBANI WALID, Libya – Libyan pro-government forces Wednesday seized control of Bani Walid, one of the last bastions of Muammar Gaddafi’s ousted regime.

Hundreds of fighters, mostly former rebels from the rival town of Misrata, converged on the center of Bani Walid, firing in the air to celebrate and hoisting the Libyan flag on abandoned public buildings.

Some of the fighters blasted the walls and windows with anti-tank rockets and Kalashnikov rifles.

The town itself was deserted, with residents and foreign workers having fled since Sunday.

Fierce clashes in Bani Walid, which was accused of harboring die-hard Gaddafi loyalists, cast a pall over celebrations for the first anniversary this week of the overthrow of his regime in a bloody conflict.

The fighting fanned old tribal feuds and underscored the difficulties of achieving national reconciliation.

A scaled-up offensive against Bani Walid since last week came in response to the death of Omran Shaaban, 22, a former rebel from the city of Misrata who was credited with capturing Gaddafi.

The victorious fighters on Wednesday carried a massive portrait of Shaaban.
Relief workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross estimated that as many as 5,000 families, or some 25,000 people, had fled Bani Walid into the urban area alone, with the total figure believed to be much higher.

The Bani Walid Crisis Management Center has claimed that almost 10,000 families have fled in total. It is estimated that Bani Walid and its environs are home to around 80,000 people.

Refugees are fleeing the town in every direction, with thousands known to have headed to Tarhouna with more passing on to other towns including Tripoli.

Few if any native residents are taking the main roads out of the Bani Walid, preferring instead to take the hazardous desert tracks in attempt to evade security forces who have a list of some 1,000 names wanted for arrest.

“They have taken the areas of Mordum, Shmeagh, Tniena and the airport”, said one refugee in Tarhouna, who wished only to give his name as Mohammed.

“They have also been coming into the center, but they cannot stay in the same place for a long time. They come inside, then they run away. They are using everything against us. The grads are firing everywhere. It is not safe for civilians.”

On Friday, the Libya Herald was able to reach Shmeagh, a populated district some 30 km east of Bani Walid and confirm it was under the military’s full control. The paper has been unable to visit the other districts, or the town centre itself, since Oct. 9. Speaking from inside a hastily-converted girls school in Tarhouna, refugees said that around 150 families had passed through its gates in the last ten days.

They also said that the Bani Walid channel had listed the names of more than 150 people who had been killed over the same period. “They are attacking again today and it is very strong”, said another man calling himself Mohammed, who fled Bani Walid with his 13-strong family early Wednesday morning and arrived.

“The soldiers came into the middle of Bani Walid Tuesday but there was a strong fight and they left. Last night, a heavy missile landed near my home so we decided to leave.”

On the main road toward Bani Walid from Tarhouna, one local commander said that security forces had intercepted some 250 families fleeing Bani Walid Tuesday alone.

“We brought 250 families from the desert area yesterday”, said Ali Shiltat, a former army colonel now in charge of a unit from the Libya Shield brigade. “Our duty is to help civilians, and many of the families we found were happy to see us.”

Shiltat also disclosed the size of the list of names wanted for arrest by the authorities following the enactment of Resolution No. 7 on Sep. 25.

“We have the list, and on it are about 1,000 names”, he said. “Many of the names are former members of the 32nd Brigade [the Khamis Brigade]. In our area, we have only caught three of them so far.”

Some 30 km north of Bani Walid, at a place known as the Malta Mosque, a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross had arrived to intercept the displaced whilst a field hospital with 15 doctors was also being established.

The ICRC have said that Urban and Temesla Wadi Mansour are the main transit points for civilians fleeing their homes, and that ICRC staff together with Libyan Red Crescent volunteers are distributing plastic sheeting, mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets and hygiene items to the many displaced in Urban. Yesterday, the ICRC set up a temporary base in Tarhuna to help facilitate its humanitarian operations. – Libya Herald with agencies