Gaddafi forces kill 8, injure 24 in Misrata

At least eight people have been killed and 24 others injured in the Libyan city of Misrata as forces loyal to the embattled ruler Muammar Gaddafi fire mortars at people.

Witnesses in Misrata, Libya's third largest city which lies 150 kilometers (93 miles) east of Tripoli said on Sunday that pro-Gaddafi troops opened mortar fire at the opposition forces who are pushing westwards to the capital Tripoli, Reuters reported.

Earlier on Sunday, two loud explosions were heard in the city of Sirte as the British, French and US fighter jets flew overhead.

Tripoli also has come under heavy assault by the Western coalition forces on Sunday and outbursts of anti-aircraft were heard in the city.

Troops loyal to Gaddafi launch counter attacks on a daily basis with heavy artillery and rockets, as well as some airstrikes, hoping to muscle out revolutionary forces and eventually penetrate into the eastern parts of the conflict-torn country.

Gaddafi's forces, however, have lost vast swathes of Cyrenaica, the country's fertile eastern coastal region to anti-government forces, who are struggling to thrust into the front line westward toward the capital Tripoli, Gaddafi's main stronghold.

Cyrenaica is the center of anti-Gaddafi forces of the ongoing revolution with the National Transitional Council based in the city of Benghazi.

The opposition forces are now in control of the oil-rich eastern cities of Ras Lanuf, Ben Jawad and Uqaylah. They wrest back control of the cities from pro-regime troops after winning back the key cities of Ajdabiyah and Brega on Saturday.

Libya says at least 114 people -- mostly civilians -- have been killed in US-led airstrikes in the country.

Libyan troops have also killed hundreds of civilians and tortured several others in the North African country since a revolution started against Colonel Gaddafi in mid-February.