Troops try to free Sirte civilians

Libyan revolutionary fighters are trying to evacuate families stuck inside Muammar Gaddafi’s besieged hometown of Sirte.

Brigade commander Al-Tohami Abu Zayan said his forces can take the city “whenever we choose,” but are holding back to protect civilians.

For nearly two weeks, revolutionary forces have regularly fired mortars, Grad rockets and tanks shells into the city.

More than one month after seizing Tripoli and ending Gaddafi’s rule, revolutionary forces still face fierce resistance from Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte, Bani Walid and in pockets in the country’s desert south.