Deaths mount as anti-Gaddafi fighters inch forward

Deaths mount as anti-Gaddafi fighters inch forward

At least 17 people were killed and 300 wounded in two days of clashes as Libya's new regime fighters struggled to take full control of Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, medics said on Saturday.
The push by National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters squeezed Gaddafi's diehard loyalists into an ever tighter net in southeast Sirte, correspondents on the ground said.
NTC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil predicted "the battle for Sirte and Bani Walid will be very vicious," referring to the two holdouts of Libya's fallen leader.
Hassan Umran, in charge of the registry at a field hospital 50 kilometres west of Sirte, said 17 people were killed and 230 wounded in the fighting in two days.