Libyan forces pound Misrata, Ajdabiyah

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AJDABIYAH, Apr 18 (agencies): Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi bombarded Misrata with rockets and artillery Monday and pounded the insurgents' eastern frontline outpost of Ajdabiyah, rebels said. A rebel spokesman said 17 people were killed in shelling Sunday in Misrata, Libya's third-largest city, which has been under heavy bombardment for the past five days, and shelling continued Monday. Misrata is the rebels' only major stronghold in the west of the country and has been under siege by pro-Gaddafi forces for the past seven weeks. Evacuees say conditions there are becoming increasingly desperate. Hundreds of civilians are believed to have been killed. "The Gaddafi forces are shelling Misrata now. They are firing rockets and artillery rounds on the eastern side-the Nakl el Theqeel (road) and the residential areas around it," Abdubasset Abu Mzeireq said from the coastal city. He said about 100 people were also wounded in Sunday's clashes, mostly civilians. Pro-Gaddafi forces also kept up an offensive on the rebels' eastern frontline outpost of Ajdabiyah, which rebels want to use as a staging post to retake the oil port of Brega, 50 miles to the west. One witness said he saw around a dozen rockets land near the western entrance to Ajdabiyah on Sunday and many fled as explosions boomed across the town. "There are still some guys out there at the western gate but the situation isn't very good," said Wassim el-Agouri, a 25-year-old rebel volunteer waiting at Ajdabiyah's eastern gate. "We want weapons, modern weapons," said rebel Ayman Aswey, 21. "If we had those, we could advance against them." Sunday marked a month since the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution authorizing force to protect civilians in Libya, leading to an international air campaign. But despite NATO air strikes against Gaddafi's armor, rebels have been unable to hold gains in weeks of back-and-forth fighting over the coastal towns in eastern Libya. With NATO troops bogged down in Afghanistan, Western countries have ruled out sending ground troops, a position reinforced by the British prime minister on Sunday. "What we've said is there is no question of invasion or an occupation-this is not about Britain putting boots on the ground," David Cameron told Sky News in an interview. Ajdabiyah's streets were almost deserted Sunday and rebels barricaded the roads with concrete blocks, tree branches and anything else they could find.