Pressing ahead with a campaign to help end Gadhafi’s rule, Nato warplanes pummeled a town west of the capital Tripoli despite unmet calls from the United States and Britain for more allies to share the logistical burden of the bombing missions.
Russia, which has voiced misgivings over the use of foreign military force and has extensive commercial interests in Libya, wants to mediate reconciliation between Tripoli and the rebels.
The latter, struggling against Gadhafi’s fighters, were promised more than $1.1 billion in aid on Thursday by Western and Arab powers convened in Abu Dhabi — though the donors also demanded details on how a post-Gadhafi government might work.
In already war-ravaged Misrata, a Reuters journalist counted 10 bodies in a hospital following heavy shelling by Libyan troops to the west. At least 10 other people were wounded.
The artillery barrage came close to the hospital, though the building is far from the front lines. Rebels said pro-Gadhafi forces had also shelled their positions in the Western Mountains region on Thursday night, and accused Nato of not doing enough to stop them.
“They (Gadhafi forces) are shelling Zintan with Grad missiles,” said rebel spokesman Abdulrahman, referring to a town 160 km southwest of Tripoli. “There have been no Nato air strikes for a week.”
A second rebel spokesman, Juma Ibrahim, said the towns of Yafran and Nalut had also been struck.
