Insurgents Friday held the Libyan town of Misrata, 150 kilometers east of Tripoli, but the situation was "catastrophic" and troops encircled the town, a witness said.
Insurgents Friday held the Libyan town of
Misrata
, 150
kilometers east of
Tripoli
, but
the situation was "catastrophic" and troops encircled the town, a
witness said.
Osman, a 27-year-old Sudanese, left Misrata Thursday evening aboard a Libyan
taxi. He arrived early Friday at the Tunisian border and went to the transit
camp at Choucha where he was awaiting repatriation.
"The situation in Misrata is completely catastrophic. There have been
clashes between revolutionaries and soldiers of [Libyan leader Moammar] Gadhafi
since the end of February. There are dead and wounded in the streets,"
Osman said.
"At the beginning the soldiers held the town, but the insurgents succeeded
in taking Misrata and driving Gadhafi's forces back. Now the revolutionaries
control the city center, and the troops are all round, with armored vehicles.
"Shops are closed, there is nobody in the streets, just the
revolutionaries with weapons, and they fire on Libyan soldiers and on black
people whom they take for mercenaries. I have got friends who are still there,
but they are blocked at Misrata's dromedary market because they are black. They
have to be freed, they need to be helped."
Government troops last week launched several assaults in an attempt to
recapture control of Misrata.
At least 21 people, including a child, were killed and dozens wounded last
Sunday, during clashes and bombing raids, according to a medical source.
The revolution in
Libya
,
which followed popular uprisings in
Tunisia
and
Egypt
that
led to the ouster of long-installed heads of state, has driven tens of
thousands of people, mainly expatriate workers, across the border into
Tunisia
.
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