20110418
reuters

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi bombarded Misrata with rockets and artillery on Monday and 17 people were killed in the previous day's shelling of the besieged Libyan city, a rebel spokesman said.

Libya's third-largest city -- the insurgents' last major stronghold in the west of the country -- has been under siege by pro-Gaddafi troops for about seven weeks.

Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in Misrata and thousands of foreign migrant workers are stranded there in miserable conditions, trying to get out aboard rescue ships sent by humanitarian bodies.

"The Gaddafi forces are shelling Misrata now. They are firing rockets and artillery rounds on the eastern side -- the Nakl el Theqeel (road) and the residential areas around it," Abdubasset Abu Mzeireq said from the coastal city.

He said about 100 people were also wounded in Sunday's clashes, mostly civilians. It was not possible to independently verify the information.

A U.S.-based rights group said government forces had launched indiscriminate rocket and mortar attacks on residential neighbourhoods in Misrata, including one that killed eight civilians queueing for bread last Thursday.

At least 16 civilians had been killed in indiscriminate attacks since April 14, based on witness accounts and inspections of the impact sites, Human Rights Watch said in a statement from Misrata.

"Another attack, apparently with a mortar round, hit a medical clinic, wounding four others," it said.

Human Rights Watch cited witnesses as saying rebel fighters were not present in those areas when the attacks took place.