Warplanes hit Gadhafi loyalists in Misrata

MISRATA, Libya -- NATO warplanes pounded forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi attacking Misrata, blasting fighting vehicles advancing on the port, the besieged city's sole lifeline, a NATO spokeswoman said yesterday.

The battle for Misrata has become the focal point of the uprising against Gadhafi's regime, and the near-constant shelling of the rebel-held city by government troops has spurred calls for more forceful international intervention to stop the bloodshed.

In Brussels, the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid said the shelling of the Misrata port has worsened the already bad humanitarian situation in the city and that the 27-nation group has set aside more than $146 million to address pressing humanitarian needs.

"The port shelling hampers vessel rotation and therefore hinders further evacuations," said commissioner Kristalina Georgieva. "The delivery of food, medical supplies and other relief items has been interrupted, and it is close to impossible for our humanitarian partners to evacuate the wounded and civilians by sea."

A resident in Misrata said the city's food stocks were dwindling, and that relief supplies brought by UN aid agencies were not enough. He said locals were suffering from a shortage of drinking water.

The NATO airstrike Tuesday night sent giant plumes of smoke into the air, helping to repulse an attack by Gadhafi's forces on the city's vital port complex, alliance spokeswoman Carmen Romero said, also in Brussels.

"NATO forces moved quickly to break up a force advancing on Misrata port," Romero said. "Several NATO aircraft were directed to the area, and following careful assessment of the risk to civilians, our pilots struck."

Six military vehicles and seven "technicals" -- civilian trucks equipped with machine guns or rocket launchers -- were hit. One surface-to-air missile site near Misrata was also destroyed, she said.

Yesterday, the port bore signs of the ferocity of the shelling a day earlier.

Rockets had blasted gaping holes in the roofs of two warehouses, and blown out the windows of another building. A pillar of black smoke from a burning heap of tires ignited by the bombardment billowed over the port and, nearby, the charred shells of about 250 brand new cars, all torched in the shelling, smoldered.