(Libya) Sirte residents queue to leave city during two-day ceasefire

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

Residents trapped in fighting for the Libyan coastal city of Sirte have run out of basic medical supplies and are resorting to drinking contaminated water to survive as conditions deteriorate, a Libyan doctor who was in the city at the weekend said.

Dr Siraj Assouri, who was travelling from Sirte to nearby Misrata, said: "The conditions have been getting worse and worse. There is no medicine for heart disease or blood pressure or baby milk or nappies. There is very little water that is drinkable. The water is contaminated with waste oil. Our forces are close to the centre but there are other areas still under the control of Gaddafi loyalists where they have been putting up a very strong fight. They still control 40% of the city."

His comments came as a ceasefire announced by the new government's forces brought a lull in the fighting and allowed hundreds of residents of the city, whose population is normally around 100,000, to leave via queues at checkpoints. The two-day truce is expected to be followed by an all-out attack on the positions still held by pro-Gaddafi loyalists in an attempt to bring the country's war to a final conclusion.

Residents, many of them supporters of the country's former leader, confirmed the bleak account of life inside Sirte. Some blamed continuing Nato air raids on Sirte for causing civilian casualties.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/02/sirte-residents-leave-ceasefire

[bainz]

1. Boo Hoo.

It's time that these people realize the good that NATO does and quit complaining about there livelihood/safety. NATO is there to help them. If they don't see that, then they are the enemy.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Nato sucks balls.