Libya: Shrapnel had taken part of his face, but he ordered: Attack

It was the worst attack by Col Muammar al-Gaddafi's forces since rebels pushed past the outskirts of the city three weeks ago. Before the sun had risen, a barrage of Grad rockets rained down on rebel fighters on the east and western fronts.

Doctors at the central Higma hospital struggled to cope with a flood of casualties. Outside the wounded lay in their dozens in a tent; the makeshift emergency reception put in place when the siege began. Surgeons tried to save men with horrific post-explosive injuries; chests ripped open by shrapnel, arteries torn.

By early afternoon at the emergency field clinic on the eastern front, medics sat in shock, reliving the morning's horrors. Twelve men died there and 21 were injured.

Inside Misrata's main hospital was crowded with wounded; with the wards full, the less seriously injured sprawled on trolleys packing its corridors. Medic Feras Mohammed said: "They (pro-Gaddafi forces] were trying to enter (Misrata] from three sides, south, east and west."

Fighting was fiercest on the eastern front, where Col Gaddafi's forces launched a pre-dawn assault with an artillery barrage.

Wounded rebel fighter Awin Mufta, 20, of the Black Brigade, said the onslaught began at 4am. "They started using Grad missiles and mortars. Then they tried to enter our territory and started attacking."

Rebel fighters at the hospital said Col Gaddafi forces advanced in waves across the grassland in pickups with headlamps on. He said: "They kept the lights on to help them navigate."

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The rebels retreated from their advance lookout position around a disused water wellhead, falling back three kilometres to a series of fortified checkpoints around the village of Kararim, guarding the highway west to Misrata itself.

It was then Awin Mufta said that he was hit by shrapnel in the arm and leg. As he spoke from his bed his mother, sitting by him dressed in black with a grey shawl about her head, began to cry. "I am OK, the wound is not serious," he said.

Rebel fighters milling around the hospital said that Kararim was held and lost ground had later been retaken. One Black Brigade soldier - its vehicles are painted black - said that rebels advanced towards Col Gaddafi's lines, only to be told to pull back.

The shelling was equally heavy on the eastern front around the shattered village of Dafniya, but rebel fighters and a Spanish photographer said the expected infantry assault by Gaddafi forces never came.

By day's end the fighting had petered out.Col Gaddafi's forces had expended several thousand rounds of mortar and rocket ammunition but had made no progress.

Ibrahim al Bous, commander of Misrata's fiercest fighters, was injured in the arm. Bleeding but bandaged, he rallied his troops and returned to the fray.

But as Col Gaddafi's men pounded positions in the east and the west, rebels in the south broke into enemy territory. On Tuesday, six military commanders and their men passed the southern front line and advanced on Zletan - the biggest town between Misrata and Tripoli.

"We went forward until we spied Gaddafi troops 10km from Zletan," said Movement Brigade Commander Hassan Dua. "We went on a reconnaissance mission, we need to know the enemy to plan and prepare".

Yesterday, more troops were sent forward. As the ground shook with the sickening thuds of the rockets pounding their lines, two rebel units disappeared across the desolate expanse of desert typical of the southern front.

Back-up infantry waited behind the giant sand-filled shipping containers that make up their defensive lines. Anti-tank weapons were mounted on pickups, machine guns were loaded for action.

Hours later, the senior commander for the south region Salah Badi returned, his beard cake in blood that streamed down his face.Shrapnel had torn away part of his cheek. He said: "We saw the enemy, they hit us with rockets and rocket propelled grenades."

Standing in his bloodstained uniform, radio crackling in hand, he roused his troops, saying: "It is an honour to die defending your country, you cannot just keep watching, and defending, you have to attack."

Last week brought a change in tactics among the rebel forces: to gradually expand their frontier of control around Misrata.

Rebel fighters reported that yesterday's attacks by Col Gaddafi's forces were a retaliation to their advance, four kilometres up the road the day before. On the eastern front, rebel groups have drafted in more shipping containers and positioned them further up the road.

It is not a mad-rush offensive to Zletan and Tripoli, but the capital is in their sights.

"The major difficulty with this front is it is wide and flat, Gaddafi men can attack from any area," said Commander Majid. Rebels remain concerned that advancing too quickly might spread them too thinly. The answer then, is incremental movements, with dug in defences.

A host of other concerns are hindering them. The rebels say they are stronger in face-to-face fighting, and, crucially, a rebel advance using long-range shelling would ultimately risk hitting civilian homes in Zletan.

Splayed across the sand dune rippled a giant Libya flag. "We did this so that Nato knows not to hit us," said fighter Haroun Bashir, 23. They hope Nato would soon attack Gaddafi's troops and rocket launchers.

"We have been told that attack helicopters are coming here, but there is no sign yet," added Commander Badi.