AJDABIYAH, Libya, April 7 (Reuters): A NATO air strike killed at least five rebels near the Libyan port of Brega on Thursday, medics said, and insurgents reported Muammar Gaddafi's forces killed five more in a bombardment of besieged Misrata. Wounded rebels being brought to the hospital in Ajdabiyah in rebel-held east Libya said their position was hit by an air strike on Thursday outside the contested port.
"It was a NATO air strike on us. We were near our vehicles near Brega," wounded fighter Younes Jumaa said from his stretcher at the hospital. Nurse Mohamed Ali said at least five rebels were dead. There was no immediate comment from NATO. The rebels have been fighting to wrest control of Brega from forces loyal to Gaddafi for a week in a see-saw battle along the Mediterranean coast.
Bloodstained stretchers were brought out of the hospital in Ajdabiyah, gateway to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in the east. Rebel spokesmen also told Reuters that Gaddafi forces killed five people and wounded 25 in an artillery bombardment of the isolated western city of Misrata on Wednesday. The barrage forced the temporary closing of Misrata's port, a vital lifeline for supplies to besieged civilians, the spokesmen said. They added that NATO air strikes hit pro-Gaddafi positions around Misrata.
Misrata, Libya's third city, rose up with other towns against Gaddafi in mid-February, and has been under siege for weeks, after a violent crackdown put an end to most protests elsewhere in the west of the country. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about deteriorating conditions for civilians in Misrata and Zintan in the west, and Brega in the east. He said the situation in Misrata was particularly grave and called for an immediate end to all attacks against civilians.
The civil war has cut oil output in the major supplier by 80 percent, a senior government official said on Thursday, as rebels and Gaddafi's forces traded charges over who had attacked oil fields vital to both sides. Rebels say government attacks on three different installations in the east have halted production of the oil they need to finance the eight-week uprising against Gaddafi.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about deteriorating conditions for civilians in Misrata and Zintan in the west, and Brega in the east. He said the situation in Misrata was particularly grave and called for an immediate end to all attacks against civilians.
The civil war has cut oil output in the major supplier by 80 percent, a senior government official said on Thursday, as rebels and Gaddafi's forces traded charges over who had attacked oil fields vital to both sides.
Rebels say government attacks on three different installations in the east have halted production of the oil they need to finance the eight-week uprising against Gaddafi.
"It was a NATO air strike on us. We were near our vehicles near Brega," wounded fighter Younes Jumaa said from his stretcher at the hospital. Nurse Mohamed Ali said at least five rebels were dead. There was no immediate comment from NATO. The rebels have been fighting to wrest control of Brega from forces loyal to Gaddafi for a week in a see-saw battle along the Mediterranean coast.
Bloodstained stretchers were brought out of the hospital in Ajdabiyah, gateway to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in the east. Rebel spokesmen also told Reuters that Gaddafi forces killed five people and wounded 25 in an artillery bombardment of the isolated western city of Misrata on Wednesday. The barrage forced the temporary closing of Misrata's port, a vital lifeline for supplies to besieged civilians, the spokesmen said. They added that NATO air strikes hit pro-Gaddafi positions around Misrata.
Misrata, Libya's third city, rose up with other towns against Gaddafi in mid-February, and has been under siege for weeks, after a violent crackdown put an end to most protests elsewhere in the west of the country. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about deteriorating conditions for civilians in Misrata and Zintan in the west, and Brega in the east. He said the situation in Misrata was particularly grave and called for an immediate end to all attacks against civilians.
The civil war has cut oil output in the major supplier by 80 percent, a senior government official said on Thursday, as rebels and Gaddafi's forces traded charges over who had attacked oil fields vital to both sides. Rebels say government attacks on three different installations in the east have halted production of the oil they need to finance the eight-week uprising against Gaddafi.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about deteriorating conditions for civilians in Misrata and Zintan in the west, and Brega in the east. He said the situation in Misrata was particularly grave and called for an immediate end to all attacks against civilians.
The civil war has cut oil output in the major supplier by 80 percent, a senior government official said on Thursday, as rebels and Gaddafi's forces traded charges over who had attacked oil fields vital to both sides.
Rebels say government attacks on three different installations in the east have halted production of the oil they need to finance the eight-week uprising against Gaddafi.
