Ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) forces kept up their bombardment of a small area in the centre of Sirte but there was no push under way from ground troops.
NTC militia have besieged Sirte for weeks, slowly boxing Gaddafi die-hards into an area about two square kilometres (a square mile). Green flags, the symbol of Gaddafi’s rule, still fly over the area.
Some fighters expressed irritation with their commanders for failing to order and advance and poor communication between brigades.
“There are no orders coming in even though we have the power to push them out,” Hesham al-Dafani, an NTC fighter, told Reuters. “We don’t know what’s happening.”
The failure to seize Sirte — and the other remaining Gaddafi holdout, Bani Walid — has delayed Libya’s democratic transition. The country’s new rulers say the process will only begin once Sirte is captured.
Fighting also continued in Bani Walid on Sunday, Reuters reporters said, with sniper fire hindering an NTC advance into the city just as it has in Sirte.
Some fighters in Sirte said they suspected that the failure to order an advance was a result of NTC leaders not yet being ready to set out a roadmap for national elections.