Libya Live Blog - April 29

Libya Live Blog - April 29

As the uprising in Libya continues, we update you with the latest developments from our correspondents, news agencies and citizens across the globe. 

• Timestamp: 

  10:55pm

  The Libyan government sent text messages to mobile phones of its armed supporters, urging them to stop firing in the air in order to save ammunition for "our crusader enemies," two city residents who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals told the Associated Press.

• Timestamp: 

  10:52pm

  In the capital Tripoli, residents reported rising tensions over fuel shortages, a result of international sanctions imposed on Gadhafi. Witnesses said there have been clashes between residents and troops, some with stones and tear gas, at gas stations in recent days, after security forces tried to cut into huge lines.

• Timestamp: 

  8:31pm

  The Tunisian army has sent reinforcements to keep the peace on the Libyan border [Photo by EPA]:

  

• Timestamp: 

  8:21pm

  Hundreds of refugees fleeing Libya landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa on Friday in a fresh wave of arrivals of around 1,300 migrants in the past two days that officials put down to calmer weather.
  
  Vittorio Alessandro, a spokesman for local coast guards, told the AFP news agency:

  I think the new arrivals are probably due to the improvement in the weather. Last night we had the first arrivals with 167 sub-Saharans from Libya and 77 Tunisians.

• Timestamp: 

  8:17pm

  Al Jazeera's McNaught reports at least three pro-Gaddafi soldiers and one Libyan rebel were killed in today's fighting in the Libyan-Tunisian border region.

• Timestamp: 

  4:40pm

  Al Jazeera has learned that Tunisia has summoned Libya's ambassador over the fighting in Dehiba.

  Radhouane Nouicer, Tunisia's deputy foreign minister, told Al Jazeera that the casualties included a young girl.

  We summoned the Libyan envoy and gave him a strong protest because we won't tolerate any repetition of such violations. Tunisian soil is a red line and no one is allowed to breach it.

• Timestamp: 

  4:33pm

  The fighting at the Dehiba-Wazin border crossing has stopped the flow of refugees from Libya's Western Mountains, seeking refuge in neighbouring Tunisia, according to the UNHCR.

  The UN's human rights agency warned in a statement on Friday:

  UNHCR is very concerned that people fleeing Libya could be caught in the cross-fire as government and opposition forces battle for control in the border area.

  Up until the fighting escalated on Thursday, there has been a steady exodus of Libyans were leaving the impoverished Western Mountains region: more than 3,100 people crossed the border on Wednesday alone.

  The rebels retook control of the border this afternoon, so presumably the flow of refugees will resume...

• Timestamp: 

  4:15pm

  Reporting from the Tunisian side of the border, Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught underlines the significance of the pro-Gaddafi forces' unprecedented incursion into Tunisian territory.

  The people of the Tunisian town of Dehiba were already upset by rocket and artillery fire landing in their midst, and then, on Friday, as many as 18 military trucks headed their way.

  It is an international incident, McNaught stresses, that also raises questions about the Tunisian authorities' failure to do more to protect its citizens - Tunisian troops abandoned the border crossing during the fighting yesterday.

• Timestamp: 

  12:58pm

  NATO air strikes hit forces loyal to Gaddafi which had been attacking the rebel held town of Zintan, a rebel spokesman told the Reuters news agency.

  "NATO this morning attacked Gaddafi's forces positioned north of Zintan, from where they have been surrounding the town.

  Five missiles landed in the area," the spokesman, called Abdulrahman, said by telephone from the town. "Gaddafi's forces did not bombard Zintan today after the air strikes," he said.
  
  Click here for more. 
• Timestamp: 

  12:50pm

  Clashes between Gaddafi's forces and Tunisian troops have ended. The situation is now "calmer" a witness told Al Jazeera.
  
  There has been fighting at the nearby Wazin crossing for several days.

  It is understood the Tunisian security forces have disarmed the Libyan soldiers and driven them back across the border.
  
  The Tunisian government has demanded Libya put an immediate stop to incursions into its territory.

• Timestamp: 

  12:20pm

  Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught has this update from the Tunisian side of the border with Libya:
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  11:16am

  A quick recap on today's developments in Libya:

  
  * Gaddafi's forces have crossed into Tunisia and are engaged in exchanges with Tunisian troops in the border town of Dehiba.

  
  * Reports say a Tunisian woman has been killed in the fighting. 

  "Intense shooting is taking place now in central Dehiba. This started around two hours ago. People here cannot come out. The battle started after the [pro-Gaddafi] brigades attacked the rebels positioned in Dehiba," a local resident said.

  * Battles are raging between rebels and Gaddafi's forces for control of the airport in rebel-held Misurata, which was pounded overnight. 
  
  * Loud explosions and gunfire rocked the area around Misurata airport, an AFP correspondent said, after a medical source said rocket and mortar fire during the night had killed at least nine people and wounded another 30. 
• Timestamp: 

  11:10am

  Al Jazeera's Sue Turton has this update on the clashes near the Libya-Tunisia border:
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  10:30am

  Reports are coming in of fresh fighting at a Libyan border crossing with Tunisia.

  
  Forces loyal to Gaddafi have seized the Wasin crossing from pro-democracy fighters. The Tunisian government strongly condemned the incursion as the fighting spilled into its territory.  

  
  The latest reports speak of shells hitting the Tunisian side of the border.

  
  Al Jazeera's Sue Turton, reporting from near the Libyan border, said fighting has not stopped since yesterday and "is continuing with fierce ferocity".
  
  "Artillery fire is being used indiscriminately on the Gaddafi side," she said.
  
  
• Timestamp: 

  10:00am

  Shelling by forces loyal to Gaddafi in the city of Misurata has killed 12 people, a local doctor said.

  
  "Here in Misrata we have 12 killed, including two females," the doctor told Reuters on Friday. "Those killed were ...shelled by Grad (rockets) at their homes or shelled by mortars."

• Timestamp: 

  09:37am

  Libyan rebels may be low on weapons needed to topple Gaddafi, but there is certainly no shortage of souvenirs available commemorating the revolution. 
  
  Roughly a dozen stands set up outside the courthouse in downtown Benghazi, the de facto capital of rebel-held eastern Libya, sell a dizzying array of hats, scarves, T-shirts, coffee mugs, pins, buttons, key chains, stickers, bracelets, car deodorizers, cassette tapes and CDs - all decked out in the red, black and green colors of the ubiquitous rebel flag.

  
  "I'm looking for something I can attach to my clothes to show the people that I'm with the rebels," Omar Suleiman, a 53-year-old doctor, told the Associated Press.
  
   
• Timestamp: 

  09:30am

  Witnesses say fighting is taking place between rebels and Gaddafi forces at Wazin crossing. Some shells have hit the Tunisian side of the borders.

• Timestamp: 

  06:27am

  Good morning and welcome to our continuing coverage of the battle for Libya. You can read our earlier live blog here.

  
  Forces loyal to Gaddafi are fighting for control of a key crossing at the Tunisian border. 
  
  It provoked an angry protest from Tunisia as fighting spilled over into its territory. The offensive is part of a move to root out opposition fighters on Libya's western frontier.

  
  Al Jazeera's Sue Turton is in the opposition stronghold Benghazi and sent us this update:
  
  
• Timestamp: 

  04:43am

  Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from aboard a rescue vessel ferrying hundreds of people fleeing intense fighting in Misurata. The Red Star ferry arrived at rebel-held Benghazi port on Thursday.

• Timestamp: 

  03:07am

  Pro-Gaddafi forces retook the Dehiba-Wazin crossing at the Tunisian border on Wednesday, but lost it later the same day. Al Jazeera brings you footage of the fighting:

• Timestamp: 

  01:31am

  Tunisia has expressed outrage after Libya's two-month civil war spilled over the border. Fighting spilled into Tunisian territory on Thursday when Gaddafi troops battled rebels for control of the Dehiba-Wazin frontier crossing.

  The incursion was brief and limited but the Tunisian response was furious. The Tunisian foreign ministry said in a statement:

  Given the gravity of what has happened ... the Tunisian authorities have informed the Libyans of their extreme indignation and demand measures to put an immediate stop to these violations.

• Timestamp: 

  01:28am

  Libyan rebels manned a checkpoint on the road leading out of Ajdabiya westwards toward government-held Brega on Thursday, signalling a possible stalemate in the ongoing conflict for lack of progress by either side.

  Rebel fighters erected barricades near the western entrance of Ajdabiya, the last major town before the main rebel base on Benghazi and the key oil exporting terminal of Tobruk.

• Timestamp: 

  01:21am

  Several explosions rocked Tripoli on Thursday after NATO planes flew over the Libyan capital. The AFP news agency said rebels reported mortar shells and rockets raining on the coastal city of Misurata. Witnesses said they saw smoke rising from the Ain Zara district in the southeast, regularly targetted by NATO air strikes.