Revolutionaries face fierce fight in Gadhafi's hometown

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- In the final battles of the Libyan civil war, Moammar Gadhafi's forces put up stiff resistance again Saturday as revolutionaries fought to wrest control of the loyalist strongholds of Sirte and Bani Walid.
Fierce fighting erupted in Sirte, the birthplace of Gadhafi and home to his tribe.
At least eight anti-Gadhafi fighters were killed and 31 others, wounded, said Ali Gheliwan, a spokesman for the Misrata Military Council.
NATO planes, meanwhile, bombed targets in the Sirte area Friday. But Gadhafi's forces unleashed hails of gunfire, using snipers in tall buildings to target their enemies.
Expected support from Sirte residents did not materialize as loyalists fought house to house with unexpected intensity. The revolutionaries were forced to retreat after the chaotic urban warfare.
But in Sahara towns more sympathetic to the revolution, people cheered the anti-Gadhafi forces as they made their way toward the southern city of Sabha.
In Shati, there was no combat; only a peaceful transfer of power, perhaps the first in the eight-month uprising. In the morning the tiny town had been under Gadhafi's grip. By afternoon, no more.
Residents fired their guns in celebration and burned the green flags of the former regime.
They welcomed the ordinary Libyans -- teachers, doctors, engineers -- who dropped everything to join the fight against Gadhafi. They were rebels once. Now they were the armed wing of Libya's new governing body, the National Transitional Council.
The anti-Gadhafi fighters know the situation will be different once they reach Sabha, another diehard Gadhafi city.
As the battles raged for control of Libya, the international community came together to pledge support for the war-torn nation's new leaders in Tripoli.
The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Friday to establish a support mission in Libya for an initial period of three months and to take other measures to help the country get back on its feet.
The mission's mandate includes restoring public security and order and promoting the rule of law, beginning efforts to write a constitution and set up elections, promoting and protecting human rights, and thawing the assets freeze that had been imposed on the Gadhafi's government.

The resolution further asks U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report on its implementation in two weeks and every month thereafter, or more often if he sees fit.

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