20110319
reuters

ALGIERS/TUNIS (Reuters) - Residents of the rebel-held Libyan city of Misrata said government snipers were shooting people from rooftops on Saturday and the hospital could not operate on the wounded because it had no anaesthetic.

Misrata, about 200 km (130) miles east of Tripoli, is the last big rebel stronghold in the west of the country and people living there say forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are still trying to retake the city despite a ceasefire.

Local people said there was some shelling in the city on Saturday morning -- though not as heavy as the previous day -- and that the city was facing a humanitarian crisis because water supplies were cut for a third day.

"I am telling you, we are scared and we are alone," a Misrata resident called Saadoun told Reuters by telephone.

"We have two people dead this morning, not because of the shelling but because there are snipers on some houses and they are shooting people, they are shooting whoever they see."

"This morning there was some shelling from two tanks and it stopped but the destruction from yesterday's bombardment is huge. Destruction every where. Mosques and houses; nothing was spared," Saadoun said.

"We are all scared here, the people of Misrata are scared. We feel a humanitarian crisis is coming...(there is) no water for more than three days and no electricity."

Reports from Misrata could not be verified independently because authorities in Tripoli have prevented journalists from reaching the city.