Libya Alhurra Updates

Libyan city buries its attackers respectfully

May 17, 2011 - New York Times:

The gravediggers worked methodically and with few words. By now their grisly labor was a routine.

The corpses of the soldiers of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, wrapped in cloth or plastic sheets, had arrived in trucks. The men who would bury them sprinkled perfumed powder on the dead men’s burned or bloodied brows. Then they prayed. A quiet processional began.

The gravediggers carried each corpse over the sand and lowered it inside a waiting box. Each was placed right shoulder down, left side up. In this way, all of the dead men faced Mecca. At last the gravediggers closed and covered the tops of the boxes. Then came the wait for the next truck, which would bring more.

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Live report from Misrata, May 17 

May 17, 2011, 11:41 pm local time: report on the current situation in Misrata, recorded live on Libya Alhurra.

Live call from Misrata, May 16 11:30 pm

May 16 2011, 11:30 pm local time: report from Misrata, recorded live on Libya Alhurra.

English summary:

Another safe day in Misrata, we are good.
The freedom fighters have strengthened their hold, they have entered Tawargha.

They entered Tawargha in the afternoon and fought with some Gaddafi forces there. They entered area of Allam, and they cleaned up and returned. Grad missiles were used in Tarwargha and Karareem, and NATO dealt with them

This was far away from were the Freedom Fighters were so they don’t know how many G forces there were there firing the missiles.
Four freedom fighters were martyred today, and a small child was wounded today.

Now, Misrata is liberated. The freedom fighters have strengthened their positions south, east and west. There are shortages of cooking gas, electricity is still cut in most areas, and this has led to shortage of water supplies.

Supplies are coming from Benghazi, most of which are medical supplies, most things seem to be missing. We are hoping to be able to receive more supplies now that it is safe.

Children went out to protests, happy with their freedom finally. Children and people are celebrating. They hope to hear that this tyrant is gone.

Misrata Update - May 14, 2011

May 14, 2011 - Uploaded by miusrata17miusrata / Freedom Group:

Translation:

Misrata is completely under Freedom Fighter control until the border
with Zliten.  Everything is under control and are prepared to defeat
Ghaddafi forces.  Yesterday we had 3 martyrs and yesterday (Friday)
Ghaddafi forces were attacking Misrata with Grad rockets in Ruweysat area, before Friday prayers, 2 children got killed and another child, a girl, lost one of her legs.  This all was yesterday, but today its under Freedom Fighter control and we are heading south to Zliten.  A number of Ghaddafi soldiers were killed and we got 4 Toyota cars from the Freedom Fighter.  Have also rescued 9 families held hostage by Ghaddafi forces (meaning they were trapped inside their homes) and Freedom Fighter took them to Bani Walid city. Today there were 2 martyrs that got killed but the city is still under Freedom Fighter control. Freedom Fighters tried to push Ghaddafi soldiers completely out from Misrata, but they were using civilians as human shields again most of these people were actually kidnapped by Ghaddafi forces there were no sounds of any planes over the city. Still no electrity, communication, shortage of medication, gas. 
We have shortages, but we are managing.  These are the events that occured in Misrata today and yesterday

Misrata: video from inside the liberated Air Force Academy

May 14, 2011: video released by Benghazi17Feb showing the freedom fighters advance inside the Air force academy and airport on wednesday. 

Live call from Misrata, May 12, 11:45 pm

May 12, 2011, 11:45 pm local time: Update from Misrata, recorded live on Libya Alhurra (English summary begins at 4:45 in part 2 - Full transcript below).

Part 1:



Part 2:


English transcript:

Perditta: Salam Brother Faraj

Faraj: Alaikum al salam

P: How are you today?

F: Well, thank God

P: How is Misrata today?

F: Today, it was calm until 10am, freedom fighters tried their best to comb thru Air Force Academy (South of Misrata), 7km by 6km, there were battles in an area after Air Force Academy.

Freedom fighters have been able to push back Gaddafi’s (the terrorist) mercenaries, the people are somewhat happy especially since the FFs were able to liberate those areas in air force academy and airport.

There are water shortages, continuous, medical supplies shortages, for chronic illnesses as diabetes and hypertension, and other medications are very difficult to obtain. There are areas, that you are stuck, either you leave your home never to come back to it, or you remain inside

P: Which areas are these?

F: Those are on the outskirts of Misrata.

P: All those areas have been liberated?

F: yes, liberated
 
At the harbor, it’s ongoing, mercenaries still there, and families are still stuck in those areas, and as long as there are families unable to move freely, Misrata, central Misrata, there are protests, freedom fighters are liberating Misrata, their objective is to liberate all of it, God willing, we want all of it liberated.

People are doing their best to motivate the FFs, by conducting protests, give out candy, anything to the FFs, to thank them, they also need the FFs to liberate the outskirts of Misrata, like some person lives inside misrata and his uncle lives outside in Tameena, so they want it all liberated, then we can say that Misrata is free.

P: God willing, this freedom will be near.

P: Where have most of the battles occurred?

F: Between Zlitan and Misrata, which is the checkpoint at Defnya, which is the Western area, and at Southern, Hizam, which is located after Air Force Academy, and there is also Sikit Road, or Sikit army base.

P: What about bombardment on Misrata itself? Has anything changed?

F: No, today bombardment included mortar missiles, which began at Line 5 from inside Misrata. The missiles that were used differ in type than previously used. There were no injuries to any civilians today, thank God.

P: As for NATO airstrikes, are they still striking?
 
F: As for NATO, today, there is an area that they focused on, South of Misrata, they struck in directly, this may have been the first time this happened.

P: When I first called you this afternoon, an incident occured, can you tell us about it?

F: Yes, some of the FFs were located between Tameen and Gargas.  In Tameena, the mercenaries used families as human shields in Tumeena, in a portion of it. Tameena is farm land, it is a large area. In a portion of it, battle ensued between freedom fighters and mercenaries. During this, families were brought out of their homes, to be used as human shields, so FFs retreated, for fear of reprisal, as a solution to the situation. So we now know that there is intense fighting in Misrata, and mercenaries are still using families as human shields. As for the outskirts of Misrata, there are still battles going on there.
 
P: as for central (inner) Misrata, how about food supplies, water (drinking water), are there any shortages, and is humanitarian aid reaching there?

F: there are shortages, especially medical supplies, some are not available, some are still there. Some food supplies are not available there. However, people are standing together, the prices have been lowered, people standing unified ensuring that families receive what they need. Electricity is not there, while the drinking water is being made available as much as possible, and these shortages of water are due to Gaddafi’s forces bombarding the water tanks, and they have also used other methods to ensure that the drinking water is not longer viable. They tried to destroy any type of supplies that would reach the people, like water and electricity.

P: Last question, regarding water, is the harbor safe for ships to dock?
 
F: The harbor area is safe, completely. The borders of the harbor are also safe. As for the sea, the NATO ships are there, so the area is safe, and now the freedom fighters have established themselves there, especially following the recent events, more care has been taken, to watch over area.

I’d like to send a message to those outside of Misrata: the situation is better, but not completely calm, and at any moment this may become a catastrophe. Gaddafi’s men are situated 22km away from Misrata, so they’re not that far away. He can’t enter the city but he could still use weapons to attack us, especially since bombardments may reach targets from 40km away.

P: Are you saying that Misrata is still not completely liberated?

F: As long as the nearby cities are not completely liberated, then it’s possible for him to attack in full force again. The air force academy, which was strategically located, to the benefit of Gaddafi’s men, since it was located at a higher level than the rest of Misrata, and the Air harbor area was also liberated, the Air Force Academy was being used for Gaddafi’s men to situate themselves there to enable them to attack Misrata. That meant that all of Misrata was under siege, but since yesterday, people went out on the streets, they were happy, although not feeling absolutely safe. Because the freedom fighters were able to liberate the air force academy and the airport area,  this makes a big difference, the FFs are working very hard to ensure the safety for civilians

P: Thank u brother Faraj for these updates

F: I hope I did not keep you too long

P: We hope we’ll continue to hear these updates from you, be safe

Misrata Update - May 11, 2011

May 11, 2011 - Uploaded by miusrata17miusrata / Freedom Group:

Marwan Al Misrati provides the latest update regarding the Southern part of Misrata

Transcript:

Today is May 11th, 2011.  Thank God, today, we liberated completely, the Southern part of Misrata.  Today, there was complete liberation of the Airport road, and combing of the Al Sikit Farms area and the FFs are headed to Abd Al Raouf, to comb through that area. As for the area of the Air Force Academy, the FFs are also currently combing through that.  And thank God, we have been able to rescue a large number of families which were held captives by G’s men, after they were kidnapped. G’s men used these families for ransom and as human shields. The families came from Gheeran and surrounding areas, Bin Walid, and Zleetin. Currently, the entire Southern part of Misrata is liberated, and God willing, soon, there will also be liberation of Al Karareer and Dafniya. God is Great! God is Great! And we give our thanks to God!

Freedom Group also posted the following updates later today:

20:46: What freedom fighters gained today in the area of Misrata airport road and Africa shopping Centre, known as Souq Alarab : a number of 3 Toyota cars filled with ammunition and 20 chinese made cars and 1 blue car used by special forces and a large number of rocket launchers and a very large number of ammunitions and weapons of all types. God is great, praise be to God.

21:16: in the Agheiran/ Misrata area, specifically in Nossour Aljaw residential village, since the dawn of today freedom fighters seized the airport,military college and the Zwabe area. Also they gained  a large number of ammunition and military cars that were used by Gaddafi forces. Also, they have freed a large number of families (around 60) who had been trapped for 70 days.Now Algiran district  is liberated. God is great.

Misrata’s Revolutionaries liberate Izreeq and advance towards Al Difniya

May 10, 2011: Misrata’s freedom fighters are advancing towards Zllitan and plan to liberate that area, reported on Tuesday by Benghazi17feb.

English transcript:

The Misrata Revolutionaries, yesterday were able to obtain a small number of weapons from Gaddafi’s men. Then you see on a cement post, written: God, Muammar, and Libya, only

Then the freedom fighters show you a bulldozer that Gaddafi’s men used to dig holes in the ground. They say, “currently, there are only 4km remaining for them to reach Zlitan”

Then they show a tube-like object, which they found next to where Gaddafi’s men were stationed. This tube carries about 30 fumigation tablets, of poison (word is typed along with poison sign on tube), aluminium phosphate is its constituent. They then proceed to say that word reached them yesterday that there were areas containing livestock, where the water was poisoned, resulting in the livestock falling ill or dying.

Following their attempt to open the tube, they begin to complain of the strong pungent odor exuding from the tube.

They say, “He’s using all types of methods. This is what we found, yesterday after we liberated the area, he is using this to kill people, animals, everything.”