(Image source: The Tripoli Post)

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BY MARC STEIDLER

Col. Muammar Gaddafi was forced out of power more than a month ago -- but that hasn’t stopped his supporters from holing up in his hometown of Sirte to violently resist the interim government.

Both NATO and Libyan fighters are throwing everything they have at those Gaddafi supporters Friday morning. CNN has the details.

“This is the biggest operation offensive that they’ve launched here, they’ve had several one notably a couple of weeks ago. They appear and say they’re making significant gains. It began early in the morning, hundreds of fighters they say from the east and the west of the city.”

The fall of Gaddafi’s hometown could give closure to the end of his rule -- but Al-Jazeera reports the mission won’t be easy.

“In other cities there would be resistance inside, opponents of the regime inside that would help these fighters as they pushed in. This time around Gaddafi does enjoy support inside Sirte. The people of Sirte really receive preferential treatment. Gaddafi made it Libya’s second city.”

Army commanders told BBC’s Jonathan Head they envision Libya’s second city falling by the end of Friday, but Head doesn’t see it shaking out that way.

“So their talk which they’ve been telling us is that it could all be over by the end of today. That will only happen if the Gaddafi loyalists suddenly give up resistance. Nothing we’ve seen so far suggests they’re ready to do that.”

Meanwhile, euronews reports the civilians of Sirte are leaving in a mass exodus.

“Thousands of others chose to flee the city as the fighting intensified. ‘They have been bombing us for 21 days and just today I got the chance to get out,’ said this resident.”

And a Libyan newspaper reports it’s not just civilians who are panicking.

“There were even medical staff among the fleeing residents, claiming they could not work because of the bombardment.”

Gaddafi’s whereabouts are unknown, but he did broadcast a message Thursday telling the Libyan people not to fear the transitional government.
 

Transcript by Newsy.