Libyan rebels ‘hit by friendly fire’

Twelve dead and three wounded after rebel unit guarding city’s port came under attack, reports say A Nato airstrike has killed 12 rebel fighters and injured three others in a friendly fire incident in the Libyan city of Misrata, according to local doctors and one of the survivors. The attack occurred at about 5pm on Wednesday evening close to the port, which is the lifeline for the besieged city and has been under attack from Muammar Gaddafi’s forces. Nato, which had been conducting strikes in the area, has not commented on the incident. Speaking from his hospital bed, rebel fighter Ahmed Swesi, 20, said his 15-strong unit was gathered next to a small building near a salt factory. The area is about 10 miles from the city centre. The men, who had been transferred from their position in the city centre to guard the port, had three improvised battle wagons with them, each equipped with a heavy weapon. “We had a message from Nato to paint a special mark on top of our vehicles so we could be identified, which we had done,” he said. “We had also obeyed an order from our military council not to go beyond a certain point. So we thought we were safe from bombs.” The fighters had just finished having tea with an ambulance crew when they suddenly heard a strange whizzing noise in the sky that did not sound like Gaddafi’s missiles. “I immediately lay down on the ground. But most of the others were still looking up when the bomb struck,” said Swesi. Twelve of the men, who were aged between 20 and 40 and had become “like brothers” after spending two months together since the start of the uprising, were killed instantly. Three others were taken to hospital. Swesi, who had been preparing to go to university when the revolution started, lost four fingers, and his leg and arm were shattered. He had shrapnel wounds to his stomach and face. Dr Ali Ahmed, a neurologist at Hikma hospital where many of the victims were taken, confirmed the death toll. Khalifa al-Zwawi, a judge who heads Misrata’s transitional council, said he was still investigating the incident, but said thatthe fault appeared to be with the rebels. “The coordinates we gave Nato [of our positions] were correct,” he told the Guardian. “It seems that our freedom fighters may have exceeded the limits that we gave them.” The incident was the second friendly fire incident in Libya involving Nato, after one of its planes fired on a rebel convoy in the east of the country a few weeks ago causing several deaths. The majority of residents in Misrata strongly support the Nato mission, which has destroyed a chunk of Gaddafi’s heavy artillery that pounded the city for weeks. But they now fear the incident could reduce Nato’s willingness to act again. Rebels guarding checkpoints near where the incident occurred refused to let journalists visit the site. Swesi said his group had been very happy when Nato attacked several of Gaddafi’s vehicles and weapons on Tuesday, effectively ending the assault on the port: “I forgive them for what they did because they are trying to help our people. We want Nato to help us more.” At a press conference before the accident was made public, Ibrahim Bitalmal, a member of Misrata’s military council, said there was “close co-ordination” between the rebel commanders and Nato. Using a map downloaded from Google Earth, he showed how Gaddafi’s forces had been removed from the city centre after weeks of fierce house-to-house battles, and were now concentrated in farmland near the airport to the south of Misrata. Zwawi said: “We have managed to achieve victories every day and defeated them out of the city centre and far away … We will set Tripoli free very soon.” On the western flank of the city where most of the fighting is concentrated, loyalist troops are gradually being pushed back along the road to the capital. In Zawit al-Majoub, a satellite town about eight miles west of Misrata, rebels had liberated much of the town, including the main highway, whose adjacent buildings had been occupied by Gaddafi’s snipers. Libya Nato Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Xan Rice guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 28, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.