Libyan government troops pound Misrata as West threatens to step up military action

Libyan government troops pounded the besieged opposition-held city of Misrata overnight, undeterred by Western threats to step up military action against Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

Mortar fire killed at least three revolutionists and wounded 17 in attacks on Tripoli Street on Thursday, opposition spokesmen said.

Libyan state television said early on Thursday NATO forces had struck the Khallat al-Farjan area of the capital Tripoli, killing seven people and wounding 18 others.

NATO forces later hit the town of Gharyan, south of Tripoli, killing or wounding several people, it said. The reports could not immediately be independently verified.

Canadian Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, commander of NATO's Libya operations, said civilians should keep away from Gaddafi's forces to avoid being hurt by NATO air attacks. That would allow NATO to strike with greater success, he said.

Another NATO official told Reuters on Thursday that the coalition wants to maintain and increase pressure on the frontline units but the biggest risk in doing that is civilian casualties. "More and more of Gaddafi's military equipment is being used closer to civilian-populated areas and closer to buildings, which makes targeting obviously difficult," he said.

Opposition fighters, meanwhile, voiced frustration with an international military operation they see as too cautious. "NATO has been inefficient in Misrata. NATO has completely failed to change things on the ground," rebel spokesman Abdelsalam said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has spearheaded U.N.-backed NATO intervention, pledged stronger military action at his first meeting with the leader of the opposition Libyan National Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, on Wednesday. "We are indeed going to intensify the attacks and respond to this request from the national transition council," a French official said, quoting Sarkozy as telling Abdel Jalil: "We will help you."

The French defense ministry said on Thursday it had increased the number of its air sorties in the past week to 41 from an average of 30 since the start of the operation. French aircraft destroyed several military vehicles and tanks near Misrata in the past week and two missile sites and a communications center in the Sirte region, it said.