Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi intensified the shelling on the opposition-held Zintan town, southwest of the capital Tripoli.
Hundreds of people desperate to leave the embattled western besieged town of Misurata were left behind amid shelling by Gaddafi's forces as world leaders today decided to create a special fund for the rebels in a bid to end the "stalemate" in the military campaign in Libya.
Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi intensified the shelling on the opposition-held Zintan town, southwest of the capital Tripoli.
Al Jazeera channel quoted Abdulrahamn, a rebel spokesman in Zintan, as saying that about 50 Russian-made Grad rockets were fired into the town so far. The first salvo landed early in the morning, though there were no immediate reports of casualties, he said.
Shelling by government troops also targeted Qasr Ahmad district in Misurata, which is the only major city in western Libya still held by rebels trying to overthrow Gaddafi.
Five people were killed in the shelling on Misurata's port as 'Red Star One', a ship chartered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), evacuated people from the embattled city to the main rebel city of Benghazi, BBC said.
"Amid scenes of panic, families were separated and the ship had to re-dock twice before finally setting sail with 1,300 passengers - mostly wounded people and foreign workers stranded" in the city, it said.
Reports said the aid ship was forced to leave behind hundreds of Libyans desperate to flee the fighting amid attacks on the port.
"Hundreds of Libyan civilians had also tried to board the ship in desperation to get out of Misurata. But with a limited capacity, the ramp of the boat had to be pulled up so that the ship could pull away from the dock in safety," the IOM said.
Amid warnings of a "stalemate" in the Libyan conflict, the rebels have sought a fresh financial lifeline for their campaign to overthrow Gaddafi as world powers in Rome took stock of the over over seven weeks military operation.
The opposition's Transitional National Council (TNC), which has been recognised by France, Italy and Qatar and functions as a parallel government in Benghazi, has appealed for loans of up to $3 billion.
The 22-member Libya Contact Group, composed of NATO members, Arab states and international organisations, is seeking to finance the rebels, either through loans or the sale of oil from opposition-held areas.
The NATO-backed coalition has said it would create a fund for rebels running short of supplies and money.
Italy, host of the meeting in Rome today, said the temporary special fund would aim to channel cash to the opposition administration in its eastern Libyan stronghold of Benghazi, Al Jazeera reported.
"We'll be discussing a financial mechanism, we'll be discussing other forms of aid," US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said at a joint news conference with her Italian counterpart Franco Frattini in Rome.
Clinton said the meeting would also look at ways to step up pressure on Gaddafi to quit, adding the desired outcome was an end to violence against civilians and a "democratic transition", BBC reported.
"I will be formally announcing our non-lethal assistance so I think that there is an effort with urgency to meet the requests that the TNC is making," she was quoted as saying.
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