US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday urged China, India and Russia to step up pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to curtail his government's brutal crackdown on protests.

In an interview with CBS News, Clinton suggested that China and India impose energy sanctions on Syria while she urged Russia to stop selling arms to Damascus, which has been a customer for decades from Moscow.

"What we really need to do to put the pressure on Assad is to sanction the oil and gas industry. And we want to see Europe take more steps in that direction," Clinton said.

"And we want to China take steps with us. We want to see India, because India and China have large energy investments inside of Syria. We want to see Russia cease selling arms to the Assad regime," the chief US diplomat said.

Clinton's spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters earlier that she did not know when Russia last made an arms delivery to Russia.

But when asked if Washington had asked Russia to stop arms sales, Nuland replied: "We have repeatedly, yes, and over many, many years and more than one administration."

Clinton meanwhile welcomed the fact that China and Russia, after refusing to condemn Syria, backed a UN Security Council statement last week denouncing the Syrian regime.

earlier related report
Misrata rebels mount offensive to stop rocket fire
Tuarga, Libya (AFP) Aug 11, 2011 - Libyan rebels from the besieged city of Misrata attacked the nearby town of Tuarga on Thursday in an effort to end the barrage of missiles that hits their home town almost daily.

Commanders and soldiers said the rebels had pushed into the centre of Tuarga, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Misrata in western Libya, at around 6:00 am (0400 GMT).

"They are firing rockets into Misrata every day," said Tareq, a 26-year-old fighter who had pulled a few kilometres back from the front to fix his truck-mounted rocket launcher.

"Today is the day we stop them; today we moved inside Tuarga."

On Tuesday night, at least three rockets slammed into Misrata, although no casualties were reported. But residents, who have been bombarded for months, uniformly blame the attacks on forces in Tuarga loyal to strongman Moamer Kadhafi.

NATO had softened the ground for the rebels overnight on Wednesday, hitting three command and control nodes and two military storage facilities in Tuarga.

After that starting gun Hajj Ali, commander of the Taliq Freedom Brigade -- which in earlier battles stopped Kadhafi forces reaching Misrata's port -- said rebel forces were moving into the centre of Tuarga in a pincer from the west and east.

The rebels hope to cut of supply lines to the town and disrupt rocket positions, but Ali said they were moving cautiously.

"We have to be careful. It does not look like they have hostages, but there are a lot of snipers," he said.

In Misrata on Thursday evening there were scenes of jubilation amid news that the offensive had been successful in reaching the town.

Car horns blared and tracer fire was shot into the air in celebration.

But rebel officials admitted there was still some fighting to do.

Earlier, a few kilometres from the centre of Tuarga, batch after batch of outgoing rebel rocket fire could be seen thundering across the fields full of scarred, burnt and decapitated date palms toward loyalist positions.

Trucks piled high with ammunition raced in the same direction toward the front line.

But in the opposite direction a stream of ambulances told of the ferocity of the fighting.

Doctors at a nearby field clinic, and at Misrata's main hospital, reported receiving many more wounded during the morning than they had in recent weeks.

At least five fighters were dead and 66 wounded medics and rebel spokesmen said.

Several more fighters were said to be in a critical condition and some with severe burns caused by rockets hitting their vehicle.

"The front line here has been static for around six to eight weeks, but from early this morning we started receiving casualties," said Ahmed, a young field doctor.

"They started coming around seven in the morning and they just keep coming," he said lamenting that his "hospital" was little more than a first aid station.

"All we can really do is stop the bleeding and dress minor wounds."

But the doctors also faced their own challenges. That morning a batch of rockets had hit close to the field hospital, and one medic was injured tending to a fighter on the front line.

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