World News Engine: Gaddafi steps up attacks across Libya: rebels

Gaddafi steps up attacks across Libya: rebels

Troops loyal to Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi pressured rebels on several fronts on Saturday after helicopters violated a no-fly zone in the besieged city of Misrata, rebels said.

"It seems that the more desperate Gaddafi gets, the more he unleashes his firepower on the people," said Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the opposition National Transitional Council.

He said intensified shelling on Saturday struck the port city of Misrata and western towns near the Tunisian border, while loyalist fighters attacked the southern oasis towns
of Ojla and Jalo, which neighbour oil facilities.

Ghoga said the escalation of violence reflected a knee-jerk reaction to increased political and economic pressure after France, Britain, and Germany expelled Libyan diplomats and a trust fund was set up for rebels.

"Gaddafi's natural reaction is to wreak havoc on the population, on the civilians and the cities," he said.

He said helicopters disguised as Red Cross vehicles flew over the besieged western city of Misrata on Friday, dropping anti-ship mines into the port, which is the only entry of humanitarian supplies to the city.

NATO admitted its no-fly zone had been violated on Thursday when one of the ships involved in its operations spotted a number of helicopters flying over Misrata, which came under fire from rebel forces.

Shelling of the city continued on Saturday although complete details of the damage were yet to emerge, Ghoga said, without providing the number of casualties.

"They are destroying the infrastructure, in particular the oil storage tanks," said Ghoga.

In the western mountains towards the border with Tunisia, Gaddafi forces unleashed a salvo of Grad rockets on Zintan and Wazin, forcing an estimated 20,000 people to flee for shelter across the border, he said.

"Wazin and Zintan are being heavily bombarded by Grad missiles," a rebel information officer told AFP adding that Gaddafi's troops were "firing randomly" and that overwhelmed rebels had pulled out of Wazin.

"The fighting was too heavy for them," he said.

A convoy of cars carrying Gaddafi fighters on Saturday attacked the southern oasis towns of Jalo and Ojla, Ghoga said.

"Gaddafi cannot keep his forces there so he keeps attacking them at different times but they remain in revolutionary hands," Ghoga said.

A member of the military council of Kufra said the southern oasis town Chad was "under rebel control" although Gaddafi forces were still in the area.

He said "six rebels were killed on Friday" when they clashed with loyalists at a checkpoint set up between Jalo and Kufra.

Ghoga once again appealed to the international community to provide arms for the "revolutionaries in order to enable them to defend themselves, their families and their cities."

"I think if we get the armaments, we can make a difference in the ground."

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