Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi bombarded the rebel-held city of Misrata on Friday with tanks and heavy artillery, killing at least 25 people, residents said.
"Gaddafi's forces are bombing the city with artillery shells and tanks. We now have 25 people dead at the hospital, including several little girls," Dr Khaled Abou Selha told Reuters by satellite phone.
"They are even bombing ambulances. I saw one little girl with half of her head blown off," he said, crying.
The doctor and another resident, Mohamed, said the city was still being heavily shelled despite a rebel claim that the attack had been defeated and the announcement at around 1230 GMT by the foreign minister of a ceasefire.
"There are 20 tanks in the city, they are killing everybody because they want to recapture the city by this evening," Mohamed said. The sound of heavy artillery could be heard in the background.
A rebel fighter had earlier said the insurgents had beaten back the attack, despite the heavy weapons used by Gaddafi's forces and the fact that the city of 300,000, the last big rebel stronghold in western Libya, has been under siege for days.
In Tripoli, Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa said Libya had decided to halt all military operations in the country to protect civilians and comply with a United Nations resolution passed overnight.
KILLINGS "INDISCRIMINATE"
Several residents said there was no sign of a ceasefire on the ground, and that government tanks were closing in on the center of the city, about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli.
Tariq, a doctor based in Britain who has been regularly calling residents inside the city, said: "They are still shelling as we speak. The foreign minister obviously lives in a different time zone. It's indiscriminate."
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/18/us-libya-misrata-bombard-idUKTRE72H4L520110318
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"Gaddafi's forces are bombing the city with artillery shells and tanks. We now have 25 people dead at the hospital, including several little girls," Dr Khaled Abou Selha told Reuters by satellite phone.
"They are even bombing ambulances. I saw one little girl with half of her head blown off," he said, crying.
The doctor and another resident, Mohamed, said the city was still being heavily shelled despite a rebel claim that the attack had been defeated and the announcement at around 1230 GMT by the foreign minister of a ceasefire.
"There are 20 tanks in the city, they are killing everybody because they want to recapture the city by this evening," Mohamed said. The sound of heavy artillery could be heard in the background.
A rebel fighter had earlier said the insurgents had beaten back the attack, despite the heavy weapons used by Gaddafi's forces and the fact that the city of 300,000, the last big rebel stronghold in western Libya, has been under siege for days.
In Tripoli, Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa said Libya had decided to halt all military operations in the country to protect civilians and comply with a United Nations resolution passed overnight.
KILLINGS "INDISCRIMINATE"
Several residents said there was no sign of a ceasefire on the ground, and that government tanks were closing in on the center of the city, about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli.
Tariq, a doctor based in Britain who has been regularly calling residents inside the city, said: "They are still shelling as we speak. The foreign minister obviously lives in a different time zone. It's indiscriminate."
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/18/us-libya-misrata-bombard-idUKTRE72H4L520110318
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