An attack by pro-Gaddafi forces is underway in Misurata, east of Tripoli, according to local sources. Residents say that government forces are advancing with armoured vehicles and attacking the city with artillery on three sides.

Artillery fire in the city has left 5 people dead and 11 injured, according to a doctor on the ground.

''So far, five bodies have arrived, but we know that others have been killed. Most are from the east and the south of Misurata,'' said the doctor, who was contacted by telephone.

The Libyan leader's son Seif Al-Islam has said that pro-Gaddafi forces are near Benghazi and that ''everything will be over within the next 48 hours''.