Report: Qaddafi's troops using women as human shields

With tanks, helicopters and fighter planes, troops loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi attacked rebel troops in the coastal town of Bin Jawwad on Sunday and pushed them east, stalling, for the moment, hopes by the antigovernment fighters of a steady march toward Tripoli…

In interviews, rebel fighters said the loyalists were using residents of Bin Jawwad as human shields, making women stand next to their houses. The rebels said they held back their fire as a result. But witnesses said that the rebels seemed to use every weapon at their disposal, including Katyusha rockets, multiple grenade launchers and antiaircraft guns as they tried to dislodge the loyalists. It was not enough.

Rebels have said they have been attacked repeatedly by foreign mercenaries hired by Colonel Qaddafi. But after the battle in Bin Jawwad, several rebel fighters said that though they saw mercenaries, many of the soldiers they faced were Libyans, wearing army uniforms. They said that for much of the day, it had been hard to determine who was firing at them, as they ran from repeated shellings.