Gadhafi Forces Kill 5 Regime Fighters in Oasis Attack

Forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi attacked the Ghadames oasis southwest of Tripoli at dawn on Sunday, killing at least five new regime fighters, a local official and two witnesses told Agence France Presse.

"We came under attack at dawn today from Gadhafi loyalists and groups of Tuaregs," Muhandes Sirajeddin, deputy chief of the local council in Ghadames 600 kilometers (370 miles) southwest of the capital, told AFP by telephone.

"Clashes are still under way and so far at least five rebels have been killed," he added. Two witnesses in Ghadames, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the site of Roman ruins, also confirmed the toll.

According to Sirajeddin, more than 30 fighters of Libya's new National Transitional Council (NTC) regime were also wounded in the fighting.

"The attack began at around 5:30 am (0330 GMT). Around 100 Gadhafi loyalists, including mercenaries who came from around Algeria (across the border), and groups of Tuareg took part in the fighting," he said.

"Some sleeper cells also joined in when the attack was launched" on Ghadames, an oasis town on the borders with Algeria and Tunisia, he added.

Sirajeddin said the attack was repulsed.

"There were about 400 rebels and they managed to push back the attackers from the city, but the clashes continue and we are short of military equipment and medicine." he said.

One witness, Isaa Brika, said rockets and shells were raining down on Ghadames.

"Gadhafi forces are targeting the town with rockets and shells and trading gunfire with the rebels," said Brika, who also spoke by phone.

He said five bodies were taken to the town's main hospital, where some 20 fighters were also being treated.

Mohammed Taha, another resident, told AFP: "The town needs help to repel the assault."