Libyan refugees flee to Tunisia as government tries to crush rebellion

Thursday, April 21st, 2011 | Posted by Noor

UN agency says 11,000 have fled from western mountains region in a crisis so far overshadowed by siege of Misrata

A Libyan woman in a UNHCR refugee camp in Tunisia after fleeing her home near Nalut. Photograph: Melanie Praner/EPA

Thousands of people are fleeing heavy fighting in Libya’s western mountains region, close to the Tunisian border, as government forces seek to crush a rebellion that has been largely overshadowed by the siege of Misrata.

According to the UN agency for refugees, UNHCR, about 11,000 refugees from the area have crossed into Tunisia in the past 10 days, mainly from the city of Nalut.

“They are fleeing because of shelling and intensified fighting between government and opposition forces,” Firas Kayal of the UNHCR told the Guardian by phone from the Tunisian border.

“The whole western mountains region has been under siege for two months now.”

Kayal said 6,000 people, including many women and children, fled the sparsely-populated area in two days last weekend when bombardment of the area stepped up. “The main reason for departure is safety and security.”

The Libyan government said there were pockets of resistance in the region, but most of the area was under its control.

But 13 regime soldiers, including a general, were reported to have fled to Tunisia after rebels captured the Libyan border post near the Tunisian town of Dehiba. Rebel commander Shaban Abu Sitta told the Associated Press that opposition forces took control of the border post on Thursday morning after three days of intense clashes.

Heavy fighting has raged around the towns of Nalut, Yifran, Qalaa and Zintan in the past few days.

Grad rockets, tank shells and anti-aircraft guns have been fired on Yifran, home to about 25,000, and medics were forced to abandon the hospital, said a rebel named as Belgassem. Rebels were defending the centre of Qalaa against a government offensive, he added.

In Nalut, four rebels were killed during attempts to repel government forces, according to a rebel named as Ayman.

A rebel spokesman called Abdelrahman told Reuters that fighters had attacked pro-Gaddafi forces on a hill west of Zintan, capturing a truck mounted with an artillery battery as well as light weapons and ammunition. There had been no Nato air strikes in the area of Zintan since last Friday, he said.

The Tunisian defence ministry said that four rockets had hit territory a few hundred metres on its side of the border earlier this week. No one had been injured.

The region is dominated by Berbers, a minority group in Libya who have suffered repression and discrimination by the Gaddafi regime for years.

When uprisings began across Libya in mid-February, locals joined in, raising rebel flags.

Forces loyal to Gaddafi moved swiftly to crush uprisings in towns and cities in the western, largely loyalist side of the country, but the western mountains region has continued to hold out.

Refugees were reporting shortages in the area, said Kayal, but most were driven to leave by fear.

“They say they are afraid of government shelling and have heard stories about killing and rapes.”

In many cases, women were persuading men to flee, he said.

“They’re all families – women and children. They are driving in their cars, loaded with mattresses and blankets, to Tunisia.

“Some say there has been shelling and Grad rockets in their area. Others say they have heard government forces are approaching so they decided to leave.”

Fanush, 20, who fled Nalut three days ago with six members of her family, told the Guardian they had left because “we are so afraid from the bombing and his [Gaddafi's] army”.

She had left behind two brothers who were fighting against government forces. “We are really suffering. All we want is freedom for Libya.”

The people of Yifran had come under fire from rockets and tank shells, said Sefao, 33, who drove his uncle and their family out two weeks ago.

“We fled because we cannot face heavy weapons. They have arrested a lot of people. The situation is very bad. There are tanks inside Yifran. They are killing everywhere.”

Only three towns were in the hands of Gaddafi forces, he said. “Everywhere else is still liberated.”

Refugees have reported shortages of food, water, electricity, fuel, medical supplies and cash in the western mountains.

The UNHCR has set up a camp on a football field close to the border and many Tunisians are hosting refugees in their homes, said Kayal.

“Hundreds of Tunisian families have opened their doors and put up signs in the road welcoming their Libyan brothers.”

A local hotel was providing free accommodation and other families were crowded into community centres.

Moussa Ibrahim, a Libyan government spokesman, said rebels were forcing families to cross into Tunisia to create the appearance of a humanitarian crisis.

“We had intelligence showing they were planning this. We consider the people who crossed the border to be hostages [of the rebels]. We believe they have been taken against their will. It’s to the advantage of the rebels to have people suffering.”

The number of rebels in the western mountains numbered only a few hundred, he said, but their strength was the terrain.

“They exist in the [mountain] caves, not in the urban areas. They shoot from the mountains at our army and civilians. That’s why it’s difficult to completely eradicate them. It’s a very difficult [area] to cleanse.”

source : guardian