Misurata under heavy attack as Gaddafi forces advance on city amid Nato strikes

The city of Misurata - a strategic port city known to be a gateway towards Tripoli from the East - has come under fierece shelling and missile attacks throughout Tuesday as pro-Gaddafi forces continue to pound the port area in a bid to block all aid from arriving and denying any evacuations of civilians.

NATO aircraft have been attempting to halt the offensive with a number of air strikes on pro-Gaddafi positions, however hundreds of troops, have been seen advancing towards Misurata.

Rebels in the city of Misurata, had claimed yesterday that they had pushed Gaddafi’s troops out after a siege lasting more than seven weeks.

"There may be some soldiers hiding in the city, afraid of being killed, but there are no groups of soldiers left," one rebel said.

Rockets and mortars had rained down on Misrata overnight Sunday-Monday, killing at least a dozen people and wounding 20, according to figures provided by sources at hospitals across Misrata.

But the Transitional National Council's military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani has dismissed reports of progress in Misrata.

"It is a disaster there," he said. "Gaddafi is not going anywhere. Misurata is the key to Tripoli. If he lets go of Misurata, he will let go of Tripoli. He is not crazy enough to do that."

Libya's Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim says the army suspended operations against rebels in Misurata, but hasn't left the city, to enable local tribes to settle the battle "peacefully and not militarily."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow will not back a new UN Security Council resolution on Libya if it calls for further foreign intervention.

In comments on the Interfax news agency, Lavrov noted that a new resolution on the conflict was not being discussed, but added that "if it leads to a further escalation of civil war through one method or another, including foreign intervention, we will not be able to support it."

Russia, however, could back new UN action if it "calls for an immediate end to all violence, bloodshed, the use of force, military action, and calls on all sides to immediately sit down at the negotiating table," Lavrov added.

Russia abstained from the March vote on the Security Council no-fly zone resolution, refraining from using its veto in a move that drew praise from the West.

Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced that Italy's air force will take part in "targeted action" in Libya.

Meanwhile, 2,000 foreigners remain in Misurata still hoping to be evacuated, US officials have said.

A ship chartered by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) remained anchored a whole day outside Misurata, as bombs rained down on the harbour.

Some of the stranded African workers who have desperately waiting to be evacuated by the ship have taken a hit and there have been many injured, a witness told MaltaToday.