Benghazi - AFP
Misrata was hit with another round of shelling Friday
Benghazi - AFP
Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi killed 20 people and wounded more than 80 when they bombarded western Misrata region with shells and rockets on Friday, rebels there told
AFP.
One told AFP by telephone that the bombardment by Grad rockets, heavy artillery and tank fire hit Dafnia in the Misrata area some 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of Tripoli.
\"Twenty people, both civilians and rebels, were killed and more than 80 wounded,\" in the bombarded sector 35 kilometres from Misrata city centre, he said.
Rebel officials say Gaddafi loyalists are deployed some 12 kilometres from Dafnia.
\"The rebels succeeded in repelling an attack on this sector,\" the rebel said, and spoke of \"dead and wounded among the Gaddafi forces.\"
On Wednesday, regime forces attacked Misrata -- Libya\'s third-largest city -- killing 10 rebel fighters and wounding 26, rebel spokesman Hassan al-Galai told AFP by telephone.
Misrata is the rebels\' most significant enclave in western Libya.
On May 12, the rebels scored a major victory when they secured the airport, effectively ending a two-month siege of the city by pushing Gaddafi\'s forces beyond rocket range.
Since then, attacks on Misrata city itself, also a key port, have ceased.
The rebels now have their sights set on Zliten, a city of some 200,000 people around 50 kilometres further to the west, that is under the control of Gaddafi\'s men.