<batkhela-movies> TRIPOLI: Libyan rebels on Thursday fought a fierce battle against Moamer Kadhafi loyalists in the Tripoli neighborhood of Abu Salim, where one of Kadhafi's sons was reportedly sighted.
After hours of intense fighting in the main street of Abu Salim, rebels managed to push out the majority of the loyalist fighters from the flashpoint area.
"Abu Salim is under control. Kadhafi people are now in Mashrur, an adjacent neighborhood," said Mohammed Sayed Gargab, chief of a fighting squad.
There were fierce clashes all afternoon in Abu Salim Street, the main thoroughfare of the contested district, which was the largest residential pocket in the capital still under the thumb of Kadhafi loyalists.
Many residents remained in the area at the heart of clashes, an AFP journalist said, as rebels combed the streets for traces of the strongman and his relatives.
"This morning Khamis Kadhafi was here in the traffic police office and he was giving guns to cops and the residents. A witness called us and we came to try to catch him," Gargab said.
There were rumours throughout the day that the veteran leader and family members were holed up in the neighborhood. These could not be independently confirmed by AFP.
"We have information that Khadafi and his sons are hiding with a family in Abu Salim," said rebel fighter Ahmed Zintan.
A member of the rebels' National Transitional Council refused to comment.
Rebel commanders said two of their fighters were killed and dozens wounded in Abu Salim, which by 7 pm (1700 GMT) ,seemed globally under control except for a few snipers who fired sporadically.
Five handcuffed prisoners of war were loaded on to a pickup truck and paraded in front of rebels and residents, an AFP journalist said.
Another AFP journalist saw the corpses of dozens of Kadhafi fighters, most of them in civilian clothing, lying in a destroyed traffic police station and and in the entrance halls of buildings on the main street.
The bodies of at least 20 Kadhafi fighters, two of them with their hands tied behind their backs, also lay on a roundabout flanking Kadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound, raising a sharp stench and drawing clouds of flies.
"There is no way to get the bodies out of here because the streets are full of snipers," said Salah Muhamad Ali, who was manning a checkpoint at the roundabout.
"These are all foreign mercenaries. They are not Libyans," he said, pointing to the bullet-ridden bodies.
After hours of intense fighting in the main street of Abu Salim, rebels managed to push out the majority of the loyalist fighters from the flashpoint area.
"Abu Salim is under control. Kadhafi people are now in Mashrur, an adjacent neighborhood," said Mohammed Sayed Gargab, chief of a fighting squad.
There were fierce clashes all afternoon in Abu Salim Street, the main thoroughfare of the contested district, which was the largest residential pocket in the capital still under the thumb of Kadhafi loyalists.
Many residents remained in the area at the heart of clashes, an AFP journalist said, as rebels combed the streets for traces of the strongman and his relatives.
"This morning Khamis Kadhafi was here in the traffic police office and he was giving guns to cops and the residents. A witness called us and we came to try to catch him," Gargab said.
There were rumours throughout the day that the veteran leader and family members were holed up in the neighborhood. These could not be independently confirmed by AFP.
"We have information that Khadafi and his sons are hiding with a family in Abu Salim," said rebel fighter Ahmed Zintan.
A member of the rebels' National Transitional Council refused to comment.
Rebel commanders said two of their fighters were killed and dozens wounded in Abu Salim, which by 7 pm (1700 GMT) ,seemed globally under control except for a few snipers who fired sporadically.
Five handcuffed prisoners of war were loaded on to a pickup truck and paraded in front of rebels and residents, an AFP journalist said.
Another AFP journalist saw the corpses of dozens of Kadhafi fighters, most of them in civilian clothing, lying in a destroyed traffic police station and and in the entrance halls of buildings on the main street.
The bodies of at least 20 Kadhafi fighters, two of them with their hands tied behind their backs, also lay on a roundabout flanking Kadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound, raising a sharp stench and drawing clouds of flies.
"There is no way to get the bodies out of here because the streets are full of snipers," said Salah Muhamad Ali, who was manning a checkpoint at the roundabout.
"These are all foreign mercenaries. They are not Libyans," he said, pointing to the bullet-ridden bodies.
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