Libyan government forces launched a heavy attack against the coastal city on Thursday, with dozens of Grad rockets, killing at least 23 people, a rebel spokesman said.
Misurata, Libya's third-biggest city, is the only major rebel stronghold in the west of the country. It has been the scene of major fighting between rebels and Gaddafi's forces for several weeks.
"They fired Grads at a residential area called Kasr Ahmad near the port this morning. They fired at least 80 rockets on that area," Abdelbasset Abu Mzereiq told Reuters by telephone.
He later clarified that those killed had been civilians and not rebel fighters as earlier understood. The death toll from the 90 minute artillery barrage was likely to rise, the spokesman added.
"They keep killing civilians. Yesterday we lost five civilians in the shelling and 37 were wounded."
Gaddafi loyalists were firing shells on Tripoli Street, a thoroughfare which cuts to the city centre from the western outskirts, eyewitnesses told Al Jazeera.
The rocket assault on the residential area near the rebel-controlled port had also prevented a Qatari vessel from docking, another rebel spokesman said. It was not immediately clear what the ship was carrying.
It is difficult to independently verify accounts from western Libya because journalists are prevented from reporting freely. Electricity and communications lines to the city have been cut while a rebel spokesman told Al Jazeera that the city faced food shortages.
Disparate international response
While the rebels have made it clear that they will be crushed without NATO support, the international community is struggling to come up with a united approach.
The five so-called BRICS emerging powers - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - expressed misgivings about NATO air strikes after talks in China and urged an end to the two-month conflict.
Their criticism contrasted with the first joint call for Gaddafi's overthrow from a group of Middle Eastern and Western countries meeting in Qatar on Wednesday.
In its strongest language yet, the international "contact group" on Libya demanded that Gaddafi leave power and voiced support for the rebels, while Washington has taken a back seat after handing command to NATO on March 31.
Gerard Longuet, the French defence minister, said this week Gaddafi's attacks would not be stopped without US participation in strikes on his tanks and artillery.
But Spain said it had no plan to join the seven NATO states that have conducted ground strikes while Italy, Libya's former colonial power, expressed reluctance to launch attacks.
Amid a flurry of international diplomacy over Libya, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief, Amr Moussa, Arab League head and officials from the African Union and Organisation of the Islamic Conference discussed the war at a meeting in Cairo on Thursday.
A few dozen pro and anti-Gaddafi protesters demonstrated outside the meeting at Arab League headquarters.
Ban expressed grave concern over the escalation of violence in Libya and called for a ceasefire and the relief of besieged cities. The longer fighting went on, the more difficult a political solution would be, he said.
Britain and France are leading air strikes against Gaddafi's forces, but have grown frustrated with the lack of support from their allies. NATO says it is still short of about 10 aircraft a day for strikes.
NATO members are also divided over meeting a rebel request for weapons.
Trinidad Jimenez, Spain's foreign minister, said this was not allowed under the UN resolution authorising military action but other nations suggested it could be possible.
The rebels said they were in talks with "friendly" countries to obtain arms: "I don't think there will be a problem getting weapons," said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, national council spokesman.
Source:Al Jazeera and agencies
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