SIRTE, Oct 7: Sirte was rocked by deadly street fighting on Friday in what troops from the new regime said was the final assault on Muammar Qadhafi's besieged hometown, with orders that they take it “today.” As ambulances continued to stream in to a field hospital on the west side of Sirte, a reporter saw nine bodies, and quoted medics as saying another 115 people had been wounded.

There were no immediate casualty figures from the eastern side of the Mediterranean city, 360kms east of Tripoli.

Street fighting and heavy bombardment was continuing from overnight at the Ouagadougou conference centre, a major stronghold of pro-Qadhafi forces, on the western edge of the city.

Plumes of black smoke could be seen billowing up from several points in city, amid the sound of machine-gun fire and explosions.

Nato planes flew overhead, but there were no reports of air strikes.

National Transitional Council fighter Barak Abu Hajar said he had been in action earlier at the Ouagadougou centre and had brought out a wounded comrade.

“They're shooting from everywhere. RPGs and lots of bullets. We were told this was the final assault. Inshallah (God willing) we will take Sirte today.” Fighter Faisal Asker said, “We entered the Ouagadougou centre compound but fell back because of RPG and sniper fire. There's no cover there.” “We have orders to finish the mission today.”

At the field hospital, just a couple of kilometres away from the Ouagadougou centre, a reporter said ambulances with wailing sirens were arriving every couple of minutes.

A man with loud hailer, joined by others, shouted “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) every time a patient was stretchered inside the derelict building housing the hospital.

A white minivan arrived and a crowd gathered round in prayer.

Inside there were four bodies wrapped in grey blankets, tied with white tape and a large white sticker giving their names.

The reporter saw five other dead, including the remains wrapped in a blanket of one person whose body medics said had been blown apart by shrapnel.

Earlier, officials at a field hospital 50kms west of Sirte said 18 injured anti-Qadhafi fighters had been brought in, most of them with shrapnel wounds.

A witness said there were particularly violent clashes around and inside the university, near the city centre, and in the Mauritanian Quarter.

Fighting on Sirte's northeastern front erupted on Thursday morning after Qadhafi diehards advanced under the cover of darkness.

By midday, NTC fighters had halted the pro-Qadhafi assault and were advancing on foot among the buildings, in the face of rocket and sniper fire.

Thursday night, the Ali Nuri Sbag Brigade advanced nearly a kilometre, bringing them close to the north-south thoroughfare that forms a pro-Qadhafi stronghold, a correspondent said.

Sirte and Bani Walid, a desert town 170kms southeast of of Tripoli, are Qadhafi's last major bastions against the NTC, which has ruled most of the oil-rich country since the veteran strongman was toppled in August.

As the fighting raged on Thursday night, the fugitive Qadhafi called “on the Libyan people, men and women, to go out into the squares and the streets and in all the cities in their millions” to reject the NTC.

“I say to them, do not fear anyone. You are the people, you belong to this land,” he said in a scratchy audio message broadcast on Syria-based Arrai television.

“Make your voice heard against Nato's collaborators,” he said, in reference to the new regime.

Meanwhile, NTC reinforcements were sent on Thursday to Bani Walid for another assault of Qadhafi's loyalists who are fiercely defending the oasis town.

Mussa Ali Yunes, commander of the Jado Brigade, said “we are heading for the southern front of Bani Walid,” speaking of a column of 1,000 men and hundreds of vehicles.

Yunes said efforts were being made to convince the remaining 10 percent of the population still there to leave before the new assault is launched after a month-long siege.

“The offensive could, possibly, be launched in two days, but that depends” on the situation, he added, explaining that the NTC forces were outgunned.

“There are many weapons in Bani Walid, weapons of high technology, very recent, coming from Russia,” he said. “We need more precise weapons but also intelligence on the inside, particularly on the number of missiles they have.—AFP