Tanks and troops loyal to Muammar Qaddafi swept through rebel-held Misrata yesterday, a rebel spokesman said as a doctor in Libya’s third-largest city put the death toll at 142 since March 18.
Qaddafi troops indiscriminately shelled Misrata, 214km east of Tripoli, and are preparing for a “massacre,” the rebel spokesman said by telephone.
“Misrata is in danger. The criminal forces are advancing on the city and the tanks are firing shells indiscriminately,” he said, asking that his name be withheld.
“The massacre that was avoided in Benghazi thanks to the intervention of coalition forces will be carried out in the Misrata,” the spokesman said.
The rebel stronghold of Benghazi is located 810km east of Misrata along the Mediterranean coast.
Western coalition forces launched a campaign on March 19 to enforce a UN no-fly zone in Libya and to protect civilians under attack and pounded Qaddafi forces in and around the rebel stronghold.
“Unlike what happened in Benghazi, coalition warplanes did not hit [Qaddafi’s] tanks that are already inside Misrata to avoid civilian -casualties,” the spokesman said.
He also spoke of a “humanitarian catastrophe,” while a city doctor speaking separately said that at least 142 people were killed and more than 1,400 others injured since Qaddafi loyalists began hammering the city on March 18.
He said that a Turkish boat was expected to dock at Misrata port later yesterday to evacuate at least 50 wounded.
Rebels earlier said that a hospital ship was due in Misrata.
“It is a floating hospital that is being escorted by NATO that was delayed,” said Shamsiddin Abdulmolah, a rebel spokesman.
He said the vessel’s arrival came two days after that of another ship in Misrata carrying humanitarian supplies, including food, milk, flour and other staples.
Abdulmolah could not provide further details about either ship, or which organization chartered them.
Journalists in Tripoli on Monday were bussed to the outskirts of Misrata by Libyan government officials, to witness a pro-Qaddafi demonstration as it was broadcast live by Libyan state television.
They said they were not taken into the city, but it was clear that widespread destruction and -fighting had occurred, and black smoke hung over the area.
Rebels have said that Qaddafi forces expelled more than 5,000 families from their homes in the western part of the city.
“Hundreds of families have found refuge in schools and mosques. The situation is very dangerous, very delicate,” a rebel spokesman said.
He said Qaddafi forces were controlling the northwestern part of Misrata.
The Libyan foreign ministry said on Monday that its troops completed an offensive against Misrata.
“Anti-terrorist units have ceased firing on armed terrorist groups who have committed all manner of acts of terrorism against the population of Misrata and disrupted their lives,” a foreign ministry statement said.
“The town of Misrata currently enjoys an atmosphere of safety and calm and its public bodies are once again able to serve the public normally,” the statement carried by the official news agency Jana said.
However, it was not clear if Qaddafi forces were in full control of Misrata or just part of it.
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