Bloody battle for Misrata
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- A witness says coalition planes are circling overhead but not striking
- Gadhafi’s forces are advancing in all directions, the witness says
- The Libyan government claims to control Misrata
(CNN) — Libyan government tanks were shelling civilian areas in Misrata Tuesday and government forces were using heavy artillery as well, bringing “absolute and utter carnage” to the city, a witness told CNN.
Government forces were also evicting thousands of residents and looting their homes, according to the source with the Libyan opposition. Rebels were using schools and mosques to accommodate the evicted, he said.
“Things are getting so much worse” in the city, he said.
Coalition planes circled overhead but did not strike the tanks, he said. In an interview with CNN, he pleaded for coalition forces to take action and stop the government troops.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s forces were “advancing in all directions of the city,” he said.
Battles have been under way in Misrata for weeks.
The Libyan government took some journalists to Misrata Monday in an effort to suggest that Gadhafi’s regime had control of the city, but did not allow journalists into the city center, which rebels have said they control.
Misrata is in western Libya, east of Tripoli.
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Witness: ‘Carnage’ in Misrata