Gaddafi forces shell Ajdabiya, Misrata

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AJDABIYA, (Libya), Apr17 (agencies): Troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are shelling the rebel-held city of Ajdabiya, a strategic eastern town that has been the scene of intense fighting in recent weeks. The government bombardment of Ajdabiya Sunday marks a setback for the rebels, coming a day after rebel forces battled Gadhafi's troops on the outskirts of the oil town of Brega, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) to the west. Dozens of vehicles, some of them rebel trucks with heavy machine guns mounted in the back, could be seen fleeing Ajdabiya north toward the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. Meanwhile: Muammar Gaddafi's forces shelled the beseiged western city of Misrata Sunday, killing at least six people, a spokesman for the Libyan rebels told Al Jazeera television. Spokesman Abdel Basset Mezerik said at least 47 people were also wounded in the early morning bombardment. Misrata is the rebel's only major stronghold in Libya's west, cut off by Gaddafi's forces for several weeks, and hundreds of civilians are believed to have died there. Meanwhile: Libyan rebels said they mounted successful raids on Moamer Kadhafi's troops in the besieged western city of Misrata as loyalist forces pounded them Sunday in the eastern town of Ajdabiya. Smoke billowed over the centre of Misrata, which a witness said was from a destroyed regime tank, as the rebels claimed to have taken out several pro-Kadhafi snipers along the port city's main avenue.