Thousands of fighters loyal to Libya's National Transitional Council have converged on Muammar Gaddafi's coastal hometown but have failed to oust a resilient contingent of loyalist fighters, despite weeks of combat.

Now confined to a neighbourhood known as District Two, less than three square kilometres in size, the loyalists continue to inflinct casualties with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reports from Sirte.