Desperate resident of rebel-held Misrata describe horror inflicted by Gaddafi troops
A resident of Misrata, the rebel-held enclave under siege by Gaddafi troops for weeks, has painted a terrifying picture of life in the city and urged Nato to arm the rebels.
Warplanes bombed the outskirts of Misrata to stop Gaddafi forces shelling the city Photo: REUTERS
By Adam Lusher 7:19PM GMT 26 Mar 2011
Speaking by telephone from the town in western Libya, with artillery fire audible in the background, the 29-year-old housewife who lives half a mile from the city centre, described the situation as "desperate". She feared it was only a matter of time before the civilian population was massacred.
Clearly distressed, the mother of a young child said: "The windows are shaking here. The artillery fire is very heavy now. There are plumes of smoke in the sky. The regime forces are in Tripoli Street, the main street of the city. They have snipers on the high buildings.
"The situation is horrible. There are dead bodies in the streets and no one can recover them because of the heavy fighting.
"The artillery fire is indiscriminate. They are burning down people's houses while they are inside. If you drive around the city you see houses – civilian houses – that have been hit with black smoke coming out of the windows. Eight days ago, my aunt's balcony was hit by what we think was a tank shell. She lives there with her husband and seven children.
"We think they are taking people from the streets. My husband's 22-year-old nephew went missing nine days ago. All we have found of him is his car and his mobile phone."
She added that a relative was working at a health centre in the centre of Misrata. This health centre was being used as the city's hospital because - before the crisis struck - the main hospital itself had been undergoing renovation.
On Thursday, she claimed, the centre was shelled as doctors tried to treat 400 injured people inside. She said that as medics tried to evacuate the wounded, pro-regime snipers shot at the clinic.
"They were trying to shoot at the injured people. Shells were falling 10 to 20 metres from the clinic. As they evacuated the injured through a back door, the snipers were hitting the front of the clinic.
"Fortunately, because tall buildings were in the way, the snipers didn't have a clear shot at the back door.
"The patients are now on the outskirts of Misrata, but no one has been able to go back to pick up medical supplies because the clinic is still under sniper fire. On Friday, shell fire hit the garden of the clinic. These are people who have no mercy, no respect for human life."
Although it was impossible independently to verify the housewife's claims, she insisted: "They are targeting civilians. My relative has told me that yesterday they had a mother, father and their three children killed.
"My relative thinks 130 people have been killed in the last week, and 1,300 people injured.
"The medical services are overwhelmed. Four days ago, my sister-in-law's uncle was shot in his thigh. They still haven't been able to take the bullet out because they have to treat other people are more seriously injured.
"Before it was evacuated, there were people sleeping in the hallway of the clinic, and outside."
She added: "We are talking about a serious humanitarian crisis. Medical supplies are running low. They don't have even basic things like insulin. People with diabetes – I don't know how they are still alive.
"The Government has shelled one of the main medical storage centres in the city. Two days ago, they shelled the major supermarket in the city centre. It burned down with all the food inside it.
"The Government has shut off the water supplies. People who have their own wells are having to take in friends and relatives. You have three families living in one-bedroom apartments, with no water and no medication."
As she spoke yesterday afternoon, the sound of shellfire subsided.
"Do you hear that? There are planes in the air now. Everyone here is so grateful that these air strikes are happening. I don't know anyone who isn't happy Nato is doing this. We don't have anyone else to protect us.
"I would say to anyone in Britain who opposes the air strikes, you are not the ones living here; you are not the ones with no water, with no medication for your children, you are not suffering the fear of being killed in your own homes.
"Even if some innocent people are hit in the air strikes, so be it: because otherwise, Gaddafi will wipe out the whole city."
She added, however, that the pro-regime forces were now resorting to a new tactic – using civilians as human shields.
"As soon as they hear the planes, they take cover in people's houses, trying to use civilians as human shields."
She said this meant that air strikes were not enough – Nato had to arm the rebels.
"It is extremely important you supply the protesters with weaponry. The regime is using brute force, and we are can't match it. There is no comparison.
"You can hear heavy artillery fire from the regime, and just small arms fire in return from the protesters. You should see the rusty guns people are using.
"Unless the protesters have better weaponry it is only a matter of time until the regime kills all the civilians."
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