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Gaddafi forces launch new fierce attack on Misurata with Grad, cluster bombs
Government forces loyal to Col. Gaddafi have launched new attacks on the besieged western port-city of Misurata for the third consecutive day, with at least 100 Grad rockets, according to a rebel spokesman.
The barrage comes a day after thousands of residents in the coastal city took to the streets calling on Gaddafi to step down and immediately stop attacks on their city.
Amid the assault, a ship from Misurata carrying injured civilians has reached the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
Rockets were fired into Misurata on Friday as well, killing at least eight people, a local doctor was reported telling Al Jazeera news channel.
He said seven other civilians, including children and older people, were wounded in that attack. Residents
In the east, meanwhile, rebels have reportedly reinforced positions beyond the town of Ajdabiya.
Rebel vehicles returning to the town were seen carrying mattresses in the back, suggesting fighters had spent the night holding on to the newly conquered ground.
NATO warplanes have been increasingly active in the area over the past three days, and the rebels said they believed the jets were clearing the path ahead with air strikes.
Meanwhile, doctors said one person was killed and seven wounded in apparent ambushes around the front line.
In other news, Libyan government forces have been accused by a human-rights campaign group of using cluster bombs, which are banned by more than 100 countries.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that Gaddafi’s military was firing cluster munitions into residential areas as it battled rebels for control of Misurata.
"Human Rights Watch observed at least three cluster munitions explode over the El-Shawahda neighbourhood in Misurata on the night of April 14, 2011," the New York-based group said in a statement.
It said researchers had inspected the submunition and interviewed ambulance drivers who saw two other strikes that appeared to have been carried out with cluster bombs.
Mussa Ibrahim, a Libyan government spokesman, dismissed the allegations, saying: "I challenge them to prove it."
Cluster bombs, in which a delivery bomb releases many little bomblets over a zone, are forbidden under international law since August 2010 because of the indiscriminate deaths they can cause in civilian populations.
