Tripoli , Libya ( CNN ) -- In an effort to hold onto the few remaining places they still control in Libya , 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 the coastal city of Sirte , the birthplace of Gadhafi and home to his tribe . At least eight anti-Gadhafi fighters were killed and 31 others were wounded , said Ali Gheliwan , a spokesman for the Misrata Military Council . NATO planes , meanwhile , bombed targets in the Sirte area Friday . Gadhafi 's forces unleashed hails of gunfire , using snipers in tall buildings to target their enemies . Expected support from Sirte residents for the anti-Gadhafi forces did not materialize , as loyalists fought house to house with unexpected intensity . The revolutionaries were forced to retreat after the chaotic urban warfare . Despite such challenges , Col. Ahmed Bani of the National Transitional Council predicted it will not take long for all of Libya to be under the anti-Gadhafi forces ' control . He claimed , for instance , that Sirte 's airport and the nearby Ghardabiya air base already have switched hands . `` I can say that things will change drastically in the upcoming days in Sirte and Bani Walid , '' the group 's spokesman said in his first press conference Saturday from Tripoli . Bani claimed that part of Bani Walid , another loyalist hub located in a mountainous area southeast of Tripoli , is also under anti-Gadhafi forces ' control despite stiff opposition . City residents had been fleeing ahead of the offensive , which followed a 48-hour warning . `` We were attacked by rocket-propelled grenades and snipers from the mountains , '' he said . `` We repositioned , and we can say that the north is under control of our revolutionaries . '' However , Salah Beniran , a field commander for anti-Gadhafi forces in Bani Walid , said Gadhafi loyalists have taken some residents hostage , `` and they are heavily armed with missiles , rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun-mounted trucks . '' `` They encircled us from the eastern front , '' Beniran said . The clashes contrasted with the scene in several Sahara Desert towns more sympathetic to the revolution , where 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 . But the situation was different in Sabha , a diehard pro-Gadhafi city in southwestern Libya . Anti-Gadhafi forces took control of the Al-Birak air base in the city Saturday , but the battle was far from over , Bani said . `` There has been fierce fighting for a while now , '' the spokesman said . `` The people in Sabha are from different tribes . There are a big number of loyalists who escaped from other cities , and they are still fighting . '' Bani issued what he called a `` final call '' for all Gadhafi loyalists to switch sides and join his group , warning that -- if they do not -- they risk being charged with treason . '' He added he hopes Gadhafi is in one of the three cities -- Sirte , Bani Walid and Sabha -- still in the throes of heavy fighting Saturday and not yet held by his forces , so that he can be taken into custody . `` We hope he is ... so we can arrest him and give the world a break from his evils , '' the colonel said . `` ( Up ) until now , there is no certain information about his location . '' As these battles continued to rage in 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 . CNN 's Jill Dougherty , Mohamed Fadel Fahmy , Ben Wedeman , Richard Roth and Mick B. Krever contributed to this report .
An Al-Birak official predicts `` drastic '' changes soon in Sirte and Bani Walid . He says loyalists no longer control parts of Sabha , Sirte 's birthplace . `` Fierce fighting '' is ongoing in the southwestern city of Sirte , he adds . A `` final call '' is issued for Bani Walid forces to switch or face `` treason '' charges .