Fighters loyal to Libya's transitional rulers on Saturday shifted their sights and weapons towards snipers supporting fugitive leader Moamer Gaddafi in a fierce battle inside his hometown of Sirte, according to military commanders, DPA reported.
The anti-Gaddafi fighters were trying hard to flush out the snipers holed up inside tall buildings in Sirte, on the Mediterranean coast, broadcaster Al Jazeera reported, quoting an anti-Gaddafi commander.
The snipers are the key obstacle to the rebels' capture of one of the last Gaddafi strongholds.
The massive ground attack by anti-Gaddafi forces started on Friday, following weeks of fighting.
The capture of Sirte, which is 400 kilometres southeast of the capital Tripoli, would boost the morale of Libya's transitional rulers, who have delayed announcing an interim government until all of Libya is "liberated."
British Defence Secretary Liam Fox said NATO would continue its military operations in Libya until "the remnants" of the Gaddafi regime had been eliminated.
"We are careful not to damage the civilian infrastructure (in Libya)," he told reporters after talks with interim officials in Tripoli.
Gaddafi loyalists still control Bani Walid, in the country's central mountains, but Libya's transitional leaders have said the desert town is not as crucial as Sirte.
"The end of war in Libya is near," Jalal Al Digheily, who is responsible for the defence ministry in post-Gaddafi Libya, said.
"The Libyan fighters have achieved several victories ... there are still pockets of resistance, but this will not continue for long," he was quoted as saying by the pro-rebel Free Libya TV.
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