Misratah, April 20: The UN says at least 20 children have been killed in the western Libyan city of Misratah during attacks by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.
“We have at least 20 verified child deaths and many more injuries due to shrapnel from mortars and tanks and bullet wounds,” Reuters quoted Marixie Mercado of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as saying in Geneva on Tuesday.
Mercado also said child casualties in Libya are “far worse than feared” and expressed deep concern that the death toll could rise if a ceasefire is not brokered immediately.
Food agencies say the residents of the besieged city of Misratah are in dire need of food, medicine, and other basic necessities while tens of thousands of foreign workers and injured people are waiting at the port to be evacuated.
Meanwhile, the UN says it has reached an agreement with the Libyan government to create a humanitarian corridor for dispatching aid to the long-suffering residents of Misratah.
Amnesty International researcher Donatella Rovera has said there is no electricity in Misratah and water supplies have been cut for weeks.
Life in the city has mostly been confined to the port, where there is more hope of getting food or being evacuated.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini says the Libyan conflict has left 10,000 people dead and 55,000 injured.
——–Agencies