Tripoli — Muammar Qadhafi's forces attacked a mountain town and a besieged coastal city Wednesday, part of a drive to crush pockets of resistance in the western part of the country that is largely under the Libyan leader's control.
The mountain town of Yifran came under heavy shelling, and firefights erupted in city of Misrata, besieged by Qadhafi's troops for nearly two months.
Fighting in Libya erupted two months ago, when protests against Qadhafi's four decades in power turned into an armed uprising. Rebels now control most of the east, while Qadhafi holds most of the west. However, there are rebel-held areas in western Libya, particularly the Nafusa mountain area that is home to Libya's Berber minority.
Since the weekend, the Nafusa region town of Yifran, with a population of about 25,000 people, has come under daily attack with Grad rockets, tank shells and anti-aircraft guns, said a rebel fighter, who would only give his first name, Belgassem, for fear of reprisals.
The shelling has sent thousands fleeing into nearby Tunisia. Four mortar shells from the fighting landed on Tunisian territory on Monday, Tunisian officials said late Tuesday.
The rebel fighter said the assault damaged a water tank as well as homes in Yifran. Doctors had to abandon the town's hospital because of the shelling, said Belgassem, speaking by phone from the nearby town of Qalaa.
Qalaa has also come under attack, but there was no shelling Wednesday, Belgassem said. "We are defending our city and they can't get into the center because we are here," he said.
In Nalut, another mountain town near the Tunisian border, rebels fought off Qadhafi loyalists on Monday and pursued them for about 30km (18 miles), said Ayman, a rebel fighter from Nalut. In clashes Tuesday, the rebels seized weapons and ammunition from Qadhafi's forces, said Ayman, who would not give his last name for fear of repercussions.
He said four rebels were killed in two days of fighting.
International aid officials said more than 10,000 people from the Nafusa mountain area have fled to Tunisia in recent days, avoiding official border crossings manned by Qadhafi loyalists. The refugees stay in camps near the Tunisian border towns of Dehiba and Remada, or are being hosted by Tunisian families.
Firas Kayal, an official with the UN refugee agency, said the Libyan border area "has apparently been under heavy fighting and shelling between opposition forces and Qadhafi."
The refugees "enter in the cars, through the mountains, cars filled with luggage and families and women and children and personal items," he said.
Yifran, Qalaa, Nalut and others near the Tunisian borders are inhibited by Berbers who suffered under Qadhafi repressive policies. Qadhafi has dubbed Berbers as 'product of colonialism' created by the west to divide Libya. In the 1970s, members of pan-Berber associations were arrested and Berber activities were banned.
In the other rebel outpost in western Libya, the besieged city of Misrata, new clashes erupted Wednesday.
Exchanges of fire were heard Wednesday between Libyan troops and armed residents in the city center. NATO planes flew overhead, but did not carry out airstrikes.
Abdel Salam, a rebel fighter, said snipers were shooting from rooftops.
The rebels control the port area, while Qadhafi's forces have deployed along Tripoli Street, a downtown thoroughfare. Misrata has been under siege for nearly two months, and human rights groups have warned to situation there is increasingly dire. Hundreds of migrant workers and wounded people have been evacuated by boats, which have also delivered humanitarian supplies, including food and medicine.
