MISRATA, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi's forces shelled the besieged rebel
frontline city of Misrata Thursday, hitting residential areas on its
outskirts and wounding four people, a doctor said.
The
two-month battle has wrecked swaths of Libya's third-largest city and
prompted dire warnings of a humanitarian crisis. Gadhafi's best trained
forces are battling fiercely to try to uproot rebel fighters from their
only major stronghold in the western half of Libya, which is home to
the government's power centers and the capital, Tripoli.
A
doctor in the city said Thursday that a NATO airstrike killed 12 rebels
in a friendly fire incident a day earlier. The military alliance, which
is operating over Libya to enforce a no-fly zone and protect civilians,
denied its warplanes bombed a building the rebels were said to be
occupying.
Misrata has become the focus of
fighting in recent weeks, as the other key front, in the eastern part
of Libya that is largely under rebel control, has settled into a
stalemate.
On Thursday, government troops shelled residential areas about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the Misrata's downtown core.
"The
shelling started around 9:30 this morning and has been sporadic during
the day," said a doctor who spoke via Skype on condition of anonymity
for fear of reprisals.
Another doctor working
in the city, Hassan Malitan, recounted details of what he believed was
a NATO airstrike Wednesday on rebels holed up in a building about three
miles (five kilometers) east of the port.
He
believed the attack was a mistake but insisted it was caused by NATO
aircraft. He said the strike came moments after he and another doctor
visited the building.
"We drove about 200
meters (yards) and we heard a huge explosion that shook the earth,"
Malitan said. He said he looked back and saw smoke rising from where
they had just sat with the men. As he and the other doctor began slowly
driving back toward the building, a second missile crashed into it,
Malitan said.
"We started crying and screaming
out their names," he said. "It was clear that the missiles came from
the sky and we heard the airplane," he said.
Malitan
said he was surprised to see rebels so far east, and said they assured
him that they had been in contact with NATO forces about their location.
Wednesday
was the second day of intense fighting around Misrata's Mediterranean
port, the city's only lifeline to the outside world. A steady stream of
boats have been bringing in humanitarian aid through the port and
ferrying out hundreds of wounded civilians and foreign migrant workers
who were trapped when the fighting broke out two months ago.
In Brussels, a NATO official denied that warplanes had bombed the building.
"There
was no NATO attack on any building in or around Misrata," said the
official who could not be identified under standing regulations.
Forces
loyal to Gadhafi had been crowding around that area, a coastal road
that leads from the capital, Tripoli, to the port. NATO forces targeted
them in pummeling airstrikes on Tuesday and Wednesday in an attempt to
halt an advance on the port.
The NATO spokesman
said the jets had struck a number of combat vehicles about 10 miles (16
kilometers) southeast of Misrata port on Wednesday, targeting an area
where they had broken up a large group of pro-Gadhafi forces the day
before.
"NATO cannot independently verify
reports that these vehicles were operated by opposition forces," he
said. "We deeply regret any loss of human life, as our mission in Libya
is to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas against attack."
Aid
agencies and human rights groups have sounded alarm bells about a
growing humanitarian crisis inside the city and NATO has publicly
acknowledged it needs to do more to protect civilians in Misrata.
But the coalition has also talked about the difficulties of
targeting Gadhafi's forces around the city, saying they are mixing in
with civilians to make it more difficult to identify them.
On Thursday, a senior U.N. official warned that massive food
shortages will also hit Libya within two months unless stocks are
replenished and distribution networks are supported.
The World Food Program's regional director for the Middle East
and North Africa, Daly Belgasmi, said current stocks might last only 45
to 60 days, after which many people will be forced to cut back on
meals.
He said rising fuel prices and lack of hard currency are making
it hard for Libya to import food. Adding to Libya's woes, the private
economy was hit by the exodus of foreigners who worked in food
production such as bakeries.AP
