Gaddafi loyalists who had been cornered in a an area of Sirte of about two square kilometers (a square mile) appeared to have broken out of their encirclement, Reuters reporters in the city said. A group of NTC fighters was forced to pull back about 2 km (1.2 miles) after they came under heavy fire.

The force was trying to regroup near the Ouagadougou conference center — the complex where Gaddafi used to host foreign heads of state — but was pinned down.