Gaddafi forces bombard Misurata, as sanctions bite (VIDEO)

Against the backdrop of rising domestic tensions over gas shortages, Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi have renewed their attacks on Misurata. 

Three people were killed as missiles slammed into the city's port east of the capital, Tripoli, where NATO is enforcing a U.N. resolution to protect civilians amid a two-month revolt, BBC reported Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, forces loyal to Gaddafi were using women and children in Misurata as human shields to protect themselves from attacks, the Daily Mail reported.

Government forces had pulled out of the city over the weekend under pressure from NATO air strikes, but have since bombarded the city, the only major western city in rebel hands and a lifeline for those seeking to escape to the rebel stronghold Benghazi further east.

Hundreds of residents, including migrant African laborers, had been waiting at the port for the expected afternoon arrival of the Red Star 1, an Albanian ship chartered by the International Organization of Migration to evacuate people from Misurata, according to the Associated Press.

Tuesday's attack followed big explosions at Gaddafi's sprawling Tripoli compound early on Monday, which government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim called "an attempt to assassinate the leader and other political leaders of this country."

The Tripoli strikes sparked angry criticism from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who said the Western coalition had no mandate to kill Gaddafi, BBC reported.

NATO officials Tuesday said the alliance was "steadily and deliberately" degrading Gaddafi's military capabilities in line with the U.N. Security Council's mandate to protect Libyan civilians from the threat of attack.

Meanwhile, gas shortages in Tripoli — resulting from international sanctions and the capture of refineries in the east by rebels — have reportedly forced people to line up for days at pumps.

Residents say scuffles are breaking out at gas stations as lines of people — hundreds of cars long — block streets.

One resident said he queued all day on Monday only for the pump to run dry before his turn came.

Even though Libya produced 2 percent of the world's oil supply before the war, Libya imported gasoline to supplement petrol produced at its own refineries. U.N. sanctions banning dealings with Libya's National Oil Company have made fuel importation difficult.

Tankers carrying fuel are being turned back by NATO forces enforcing the sanctions, Libyan officials say.

With the major refinery at Tobruk in rebel hands, Gaddafi is relying largely on a refinery in Zawiya to supply the government-held west.