Libyan fighters assault main Gaddafi base in Sirte

Revolutionary fighters today assaulted a convention centre in the heart of Sirte that forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi turned into their main base, in what commanders said was a final offensive to crush resistance in the holdout city after weeks of siege.

The forces of Libya's new rulers were pushing into the Mediterranean coastal city from the west, east and south in heavy fighting, trying to squeeze Gaddafi loyalists into a smaller and smaller perimeter.

The two sides battered each other with rockets, mortar shells and tank fire, as Gaddafi snipers fired down on fighters advancing through housing complexes.

Today's push marks the largest new assault on the city for weeks.

"We started the attack at 6am today. The first group hit the outskirts of Sirte. We were fired on by Gaddafi snipers. We had many soldiers wounded," said commander Altaib Aleroebi of the ex-rebels' West Mountain Brigade, which led the morning attack on the western front.

At least eight revolutionary fighters were killed and 125 were wounded, doctors said.

Ambulances sped down Sirte's main avenue to a field hospital set up in an abandoned villa five miles (eight kilometers) from the centre.

Doctors said a senior commander, Ali Saeh of the Free Libya Brigade, was injured, shot twice by a sniper as he led fighters through loyalist forces in a residential area.