Ex-Gaddafi Stronghold Surrenders to Pro-Government Forces

Bani Walid’s leaders argue that Misrata was engaged in an exercise in collective punishment with their assault as punishment for the town having sided with Col. Gaddafi during the uprising. . .

Within hours of his broadcast (Saturday morning) remarks militiamen intensified their assault and started indiscriminately shelling the town, killing at least 130 civilians, including women and children, according to one of Bani Walid’s elders, 62-year-old Ali Mohamed Ali. The state news agency, LAN, put the death toll on both sides at only 22 with hundreds injured.

Speaking with The Daily Beast in the neighboring town of Tarhuna, Ali said he had escaped Bani Walid overnight “under fierce bombardment after my house had been destroyed.” At a checkpoint, militiamen seized his brother, a doctor. “About 60 civilians were killed on Tuesday alone and there are still people under the rubble,” he said. He claims that a majority of the town’s population of 70,000 had fled over the past few days. Families in Tarhuna and neighboring villages have taken in many of the refugees, who seem to want to avoid a camp set up by the government half an hour from Bani Walid. . .

For how long remains the question. As dusk fell, the town’s conquerors made a hasty exit amid the din of gunshots and cheering soldiers. “You should get out of here,” shouted a fighter perched on the back of a truck. “The snipers will be back.”

[link to www.thedailybeast.com]

That's at least 190 dead in 2 of the days of fighting....