Libya update

 

 

1154: Zintan resident, quoted by Reuters: "Gaddafi's brigades started bombardment from the northern area half an hour ago... The town is completely surrounded... They are getting reinforcements. Troops backed with tanks and vehicles are coming. We appeal to the allied forces to come and protect civilians."

 

1147: The death toll on Tuesday from fighting in Misrata, where pro-Gaddafi forces were reported to be using shells and snipers, was 17, a doctor tells AFP. Five children were among those killed, the doctor says.

1144: A resident in the western, rebel-held city of Zintan has told Reuters that pro-Gaddafi forces have resumed bombardment there.

 

1113: Kim Sengupta of Britain's Independent newspaper recently travelled to Ajdabiya on the the Libyan front line. "Ajdabiya has a population of about 140,000, it seems about three-quarters of them have gone," he told the BBC World Service. "All the shops are shut, they have run out of most of their food, there is no water and there is no power. So it is basically a city under siege." He said pro-Gaddafi forces control the outside perimeter of the city. "No-one really is in control inside, you've got Shabab [Libyan Youth Movement] rebel fighters' checkpoints in various places, but they are not permanent ones."

1044: T Ndemera in Benghazi, Libya writes: "Why is the UN not disabling the radio and TV that Gaddafi is using to politicise the poor Libyans?" Have Your Say

1040: Coalition aircraft have launched two strikes against pro-Gaddafi forces in Misrata, Reuters reports.

 

 

 

0611: A doctor in Misrata has said rebels in Libya's third-largest city are vastly outgunned by troops loyal to Col Gaddafi. "The fighters are using primitive tools like swords, sticks and anything they get from the Gaddafi mercenaries," he told the Associated Press. Mokhtar Ali, a Libyan dissident in exile who is still in touch which his family in Misrata, said snipers were firing at anyone on the street, and residents trapped inside had no idea who had been killed. "People live in total darkness in terms of communications and electricity," he added. "Residents live on canned food and rainwater tanks."

 

 

 

0318: Forces loyal to Col Gaddafi are terrorising civilians in Libya's third city, Misrata, residents have told the Associated Press. Residents said the shelling and sniper attacks were unrelenting. "The number of dead is too many for our hospital to handle," a doctor said. As for food, he said: "We share what we find and if we don't find anything, which happens, we don't know what to do."