Rebels return fire during a mortar barrage fired by troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi outside Brega in eastern Libya, April 1, 2011.
Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi mounted an intense artillery bombardment of rebel-held Misrata on Friday and pro-Gadhafi troops attacked shops and homes in the city centre, residents said.
Misrata is the last big rebel stronghold in western Libya but after weeks of shelling and encirclement, government forces appear to be gradually loosening the rebels' hold on the city despite Western air strikes there. Libya's third-biggest city lies 200 kilometres east of Tripoli
One resident said an attempt by government forces to take control of the centre had been fought off by rebels but that afterward pro-Gadhafi forces started indiscriminate shelling of Misrata's port and the city centre.
"They used tanks, rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and other projectiles to hit the city today. It was a random and very intense bombardment," a rebel spokesman called Sami told Reuters by telephone. "We no longer recognize the place. The destruction cannot be described."
"The pro-Gadhafi soldiers who made it inside the city through Tripoli Street are pillaging the place, the shops, even homes, and destroying everything in the process. They are targeting everyone, including civilians' homes. I don't know what to say, may Allah help us," he said.
Western war planes have attacked an air base south of Misrata where pro-Gadhafi forces have their main base, and residents said at least one warship belonging to the international anti-Gadhafi coalition was at anchor off the coast.
But locals have expressed growing frustration with the coalitiosn air strikes, saying they have done little to help the situation on the ground.
Al Jazeera television quoted another rebel spokesman, Abdulbasset Abu Mzereiq, as saying five people had been killed, including a six-year-old child in a car hit by shellfire.
Accounts from Misrata could not be independently verified because Libyan authorities have not allowed journalists to travel to the city and report from it freely.