Opposition: Over 300 Gaddafi fighters killed in Misurata

Apr 26, 2011, 13:34 GMT

Cairo/Tripoli - Libyan rebels have killed more than 300 troops loyal to leader Moamer Gaddafi in the western city of Misurata in the past two days, opposition website Libya al-Youm reported Tuesday.

NATO launched fresh airstrikes to weaken Gaddafi's forces, state media said, as many Libyans have begun to fear that the fighting between rebels and government forces will go on for months.

An estimated 20 Gaddafi loyalists have been captured, among them two army majors - including the second in command of the elite Khamis Gaddafi brigade, Libya al-Youm reported.

There were also civilian casualties, with 12 people killed in Misurata on Monday, and 57 wounded, according to broadcaster Al Jazeera.

On Tuesday, the United Nations said it helped deliver more than 500 tons of food to Misurata, which is the country's third-largest city and a key gateway to the capital, Tripoli.

The UN's World Food Programme said it also delivered three ambulances, medical supplies and other relief items to Misurata via a UN-chartered ship.

Rebel spokesman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga told the German Press Agency dpa by telephone that Gaddafi's forces have not respected the ceasefire that they promised in Misurata.

'Gaddafi's forces have consolidated themselves on the western side of Misurata. They are also gathered near the eastern entrance and are shelling Misurata from a distance,' he said.

'The rebels have made good gains in the centre of the city but Gaddafi's forces are still on the outskirts. The statement they made regarding a ceasefire there has no truth to it,' said Ghoga.

Despite gains made by the rebels in the last few days of fighting, frustrations and fears were coming to the surface among residents in the coastal city of Derna, located between the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and Tobruk town.

'If we don't see progress soon, people will get very frustrated,' said Iman El Kuf, who used to work in the tourism industry in Derna.

'There are already pockets of resistance against the rebel movement. After dark, they come out. Perhaps if the rebels do not advance soon, others might join them,' she said.

Another resident, Mohamed Founi, complained that many people can't find jobs and that schools were still closed. He said one litre of oil, which was sold for 1.5 Libyan dinars (1.2 dollars) before the revolution now costs up to 3.5 dinars.

'That's fine if you are in Benghazi, the centre of the movement, but here, we are just waiting and waiting,' said Founi.

Rebel spokesman Ghoga said that 'the employment of Predator drones has taken the NATO air campaign into another phase.'

NATO said Tuesday that its forces launched attacks a day earlier that struck at a training facility near Misurata, as well as vehicles and tanks in Tripoli. Three ammunition depots were also destroyed in the area around Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, according to the NATO statement.

Libyan state media reported that 'foreign ships have attacked a communications cable off the Libyan coast, cutting communications to several eastern cities.'

The cable allegedly connected Sirte with the key oil towns of Ras Lanuf and Brega. Local and international calls to many cities east of the capital, Tripoli, have not been possible for weeks.

Government officials also said an attack on the buildings in Gaddafi's Bab Al Aziziya compound was an assassination attempt.

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