LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - Scores of young men in the mountains of western Libya have disappeared at the hands of forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi, Amnesty International said on Friday.
The human rights group's 18-page report was produced after a fact-finding mission to neighbouring Tunisia, where many refugees from the Nafusa region have fled since conflict erupted in Libya in February.
"They described many cases of enforced disappearance, as well as other problems in the besieged mountainous area, particularly the growing difficulty of surviving on supplies smuggled in from Tunisia and the dangers of travelling to areas controlled by forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi," the report said.
Most inhabitants of the remote border region have declared loyalty to the rebel government in Benghazi, leading to indiscriminate rocket attacks on civilian areas by Gaddafi's troops, according to Amnesty International.
One mother, who was not identified in the report, told Amnesty she was worried that her daughters, aged 15 and 16, could be sexually assaulted by mercenary soldiers fighting for Gaddafi's army.
"I am taking my daughters, for fear that something bad will happen to them, we have heard about women and girls being raped in other cities in the east and after offensives at the hands of mercenaries," she said.
The report called on Tripoli to allow safe passage to civilians wanting to leave Libya and to permit the delivery of humanitarian aid.
It also demanded an end to the use of indiscriminate weapons such as landmines and rockets in civilian areas, and the lifting of restrictions on water, electricity, fuel and other basic necessities in the Nafusa region. (Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Jon Hemming)
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