Libyan interim government forces have made a tactical retreat after mounting attacks on Muammar Gaddafi's home town of Sirte, getting as close as half a kilometre from the centre of the former leader's coastal stronghold.
Pick-up vehicles mounted with machine guns and loaded with National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters had raced into the town's centre, backed up by NATO jets, on Saturday.
Gunfire could be heard coming from central Sirte and black smoke rose as NTC forces massed in Zafran Square and moved up tanks and mortars.
Field medics said two NTC soldiers had been killed and more than 20 wounded in the fighting against pro-Gaddafi forces on Saturday.
"They have snipers above the mosques, above the buildings. They're using the houses and public buildings," NTC fighter El-Tohamy Abuzein told Reuters from his position in Zafran Square. The NTC assault plan has divided Sirte into three zones.
"They took area number one and they are fighting in area number two and they are holding there until morning," NTC commander Fathi Bafhaaga said.
Journalists at the scene said it was the deepest NTC fighters had got into Sirte, but it was not possible to verify whether the NTC was holding onto its gains overnight
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