Fighting in Libya is fast shifting to the western mountain range close to the Tunisian border, as the opposition seems to have established a firmer grip over the embattled city of Misurata, aided by an escalated NATO air campaign.
By Wednesday, forces loyal to Libyan strongman Muammar Qadhafi appeared to have lost some momentum. Regime forces had pulled out of most areas of Misurata, Libya's third largest city. But the opposition, making a case of more NATO air strikes on the regime's heavy weapons, claimed government forces had sharply escalated shelling of the city interiors from the outskirts.
It was evident that pro-Qadhafi forces had suffered heavy casualties during the weeks of ugly urban warfare in Misurata. “Bodies of Qadhafi's troops are everywhere in the streets and in the buildings. We can't tell how many. Some have been there for days,” said Ibrahim, an opposition fighter. Libyan television said late on Monday that the “crusader aggressors” had bombed civilian and military locations in Bir al Ghanam, 100 km south of Tripoli, and the capital's Ayn Zara area.
Heavy fighting has also been reported from the Nafusa mountain range, home to the ethnic Berber community, which occupies most of the towns and hamlets in this area.
Reuters quoted Adulrahman al-Zintani, an opposition spokesman in the town of Zintan, as saying Qadhafi-loyalists had been shelling the town from the north and an attack was impending there as regime forces were amassing at the eastern gates.
However, it was apparent the regime troops had, so far, failed to overwhelm the opposition fighters in this area. In the town of Nalut, 50 km from the Tunisian border, anti-Qadhafi forces captured dozens of government vehicles following heavy fighting.
Meanwhile, NATO has sharpened its attacks on prominent government targets. The alliance's warplanes smashed a building inside Mr. Qadhafi's Al Aziziya compound in Tripoli. The government called the attack an assassination attempt on the Libyan leader but NATO said the target was a communications headquarters.
A government spokesman said Mr. Qadhafi was unharmed in the attack and television pictures soon showed the Libyan leader meeting some people in his tent.
Responding to the strike, Saif al-Islam, the Libyan leader's son, told Jana, the state news agency, that the bombing of Mr. Qadhafi's office “will only scare children”. “It's impossible that it will make us afraid or give up or raise the white flag.”
Despite the regime's defiance, NATO strikes in Libya appeared set to intensify. Italy has announced that it would participate in air raids in Libya. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Monday conveyed over telephone this decision to U.S. President Barack Obama. The White House in a statement said that the “two leaders agreed that additional pressure is necessary to strengthen the civilian protection mission”.
The statement added that Mr. Obama “welcomed Italy's role in hosting the next meeting of the Libya Contact Group on May 5 in Rome”.
