Anti-Gaddafi forces storm desert stronghold

Anti-Gaddafi fighters head to the front line, north of the besieged city of Bani Walid September 16, 2011. Columns of anti-Gaddafi forces sped towards Bani Walid on Friday after their position came under attack and one of their number said they were planning to take the town, one of the last bastions of support for the ousted Libyan leader.

Forces loyal to Libya’s new rulers surged into the desert town of Bani Walid today in a fierce attack on one of the last strongholds still in the hands of Muammar Gaddafi loyalists that could prove a major turning point in the war.

Explosions and gunfire echoed over the hills surrounding the town, which has been under siege for two weeks, with hundreds of die-hard supporters of the country’s fugitive former ruler concentrated around its centre.