20110502
reuters

DEHIBA, Tunisia (Reuters) - Refugees and artillery fire spilled into Tunisia from Libya on Sunday and witnesses spoke of more intense fighting over a key supply route for rebels trying to oust Muammar Gaddafi.

One Libyan man said he feared retaliation by pro-Gaddafi forces to avenge a NATO airstrike on Saturday that authorities said killed the Libyan leader's youngest son in the capital Tripoli.

"It's calm in (rebel-held) Nalut but we came to Tunisia because we are sure that Gaddafi is going to bombard it (the town) once more after the death of his son," said the man.

"He is crazy and is capable of anything."

The Libyan government said on Sunday Gaddafi's 29-year-old son Saif al-Arab and three grandchildren were killed in a NATO air strike, accusing the Western alliance of trying to assassinate the Libyan leader.

In the west, the Libyan government forces are fighting to dislodge rebels from the Western Mountains after they seized control last month of the Dehiba-Wazin crossing, opening a passage for food, fuel and medicine.

The sound of heavy bombardment and small arms fire echoed through the mountains on the Libyan side of the border.

Artillery shells fell on and around the town of Dehiba on the Tunisian side of the border, residents told Reuters, the site of an incursion on Friday by forces loyal to Gaddafi that provoked fury in Libya's western neighbour.