Freedom Figters battle Gaddafi forces in western Libya

4:02 AM // 0 comments // Unknown // Category: news Dictators forces bombard port in Misurata and Berber towns in the western mountains as NATO allies mull way ahead.

Libya's opposition fighters are battling Muammar Gaddafi's forces on the country's western border, while fighting continues in the besieged city of Misurata.

Pro-democracy forces have said the Libyan army has withdrawn from central Misurata, but fierce fighting is still ongoing for control of the city's port.



At least three people were killed in the fighting there a day earlier, an opposition spokesman called Reda told the Reuters news agency by phone on Tuesday.

"Gaddafi's troops are still positioned on the outskirts of the city," he said before the line was cut.

While dictators forces pulled out of the city over the weekend under pressure from NATO air attacks, they have since unleashed a heavy bombardment on the city, the only major western city in freedom figters hands.

"It was horrific, like a scene from World War II," said Saddoun el-Misurati, a resident who was waiting to evacuate his mother from the port when the rockets began to fall. "I stopped counting after nine."

Dictators forces on Tuesday bombarded the port, which is the sole lifeline of Misurata's battered population, news agencies said.

"Another development which is rather disturbing is that there has been shelling in the docks area, which is the lifeline to opposition forces and indeed the civilian population here," Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reported from Misurata.

"Reports from an opposition spokesperson say pro-Gaddafi troops are intent to cut the main road from city to the port. If the lifeline is cut then everyone is in a desperate situation.

"Though Gaddafi troops have left the city everybody is under threat of shellfire. The whole city centre has been destroyed and needs to be rebuilt."