Streams of civilians² have been fleeing the Libyan city of Sirte, ousted³ leader Muammar Gaddafi's birthplace.

连续不断的平民正逃离利比亚城市苏尔特——被驱逐的领导卡扎菲的故乡。

Travelling in vehicles packed with belongings⁴, they have been queuing at checkpoints leading out of the city.

Transitional authority forces say they are observing a truce⁵（休战） to encourage the remaining civilians to get out, before launching a final assault.

Sirte is one of two major cities still holding out against the National Transitional Council (NTC) forces.

The whereabouts of Col Gaddafi remain unknown.

Hospital under fire

Scores of cars, buses and trucks piled high with household goods lined up at NTC checkpoints on the outskirts⁶（郊区） of Sirte all Sunday.

The fleeing residents said the situation in the city had deteriorated⁷（恶化） to such an extent that there was little food and no water or electricity.

"We couldn't leave our homes because of the shelling; we had to leave the city," Ahmed Hussein, travelling with his wife, mother-in-law and two children, told Associated Press news agency.

An International Red Cross team has been into Sirte and says there is an urgent need for medical aid.

The BBC's Jonathan Head, who is in the area, says that with the exodus⁸（大批的离去） picking up, anti-government forces hope they can finally take the town.

Reports suggest that Nato forces are continuing to target the area.

One man, Ali, said he and his family were leaving because "we are caught between Nato bombings and shelling by rebels".

"Nato, in particular, is bombing at random⁹ and is often hitting civilian¹ buildings," he told the AFP news agency.

NTC fighter Masoud Jema al-Amari, told AFP that Nato had asked them to pull out of the village where Col Gaddafi was born - on the southern outskirts of Sirte - so they could launch air strikes.

Imam Mahmoud Hammoud al-Kaleni, who was leaving the village with his family, said anti-Gaddafi forces had told them they had to urgently leave.

"They came to our house and told us we had one hour to leave. They told us it was safe to leave," he said.