UN agencies rally humanitarian support as fighting continues in Libya

United Nations agencies prepared today to rush aid into eastern Libya as rebels told a senior UN envoy on the ground there that cities and towns were under siege and civilians being targeted by the tanks and heavy weaponry of Colonel Muammar Al-Qadhafi's forces.

"Providing humanitarian assistance under current circumstances is very challenging," UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Adrian Edwards told a news briefing in Geneva, announcing that the agency will send truckloads of aid tomorrow, including 5,000 blankets and 5,000 sleeping mats, to Benghazi, the eastern city that is the rebels' main base, where people are camped out in schools, universities and with families.