MISRATA: Forces loyal to Libyan strongman Moamer Qadhafi were engaged in heavy fighting with rebels in the insurgent controlled town of Misrata on Friday evening, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
Rebel sources in the town said four people, including two children, had been killed by Qadhafi troops.
"There is an intense exchange of fire with light arms, rockets and heavy artillery between the rebels and the regime's army," said the correspondent, who said he was among a group of journalists brought to the town by authorities.
The correspondent said they were about five kilometres (three miles) into the town that extends some 30 kilometres along the Mediterranean coast.
As they arrived at a hospital, where they had been brought to see casualties from the fighting, an officer escorting them was lightly wounded by a sniper.
"We hit the dirt before heading back the other way," he said.
Misrata, about 215 kilometres (130 miles) east of Tripoli, has seen fighting for more than 40 days since the start of the uprising against Qadhafi.
Doctors said last week that 200 people had been killed there since the fighting began.
Earlier this week, the United Nations called for a halt to hostilities around the town, saying several weeks of "heavy shelling" by Qadhafi's forces had killed or wounded hundreds.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon made a new "urgent call for an immediate cessation of the indiscriminate use of military force against the civilian population," his spokesman said.
"Conditions in Misrata are especially grave, with reports of the use of heavy weapons to attack the city, where the population is trapped and unable, as a result of heavy shelling that has continued over several weeks, to receive basic supplies, including clean water, food, and medicines," he said.
NATO said government troops are using civilians as human shields in Misrata, making its task of enforcing a no-fly zone more precarious.
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