Intense shelling rocked the area around the train station in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, AFP reported on Monday.

Insurgent fighters had closed off the roads in the area on the edge of the city, and terrified civilians were fleeing the fighting in minibuses and on foot.

Armored vehicles of Kiev's law enforcement agencies tried to break through to the train station, Deputy Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic Andrei Purgin told ITAR-Tass on Monday.

"The tank column tried to break through from the local railway station to the airport. The gunfire is very intense; blasts are heard loudly, even in the center of the city," he said.

The western part of the city has been under heavy shelling since 4 a.m. local time on Monday from Grad multiple-launch rocket systems, local residents told ITAR-Tass.

A rebel fighter told an AFP reporter at the scene that government troops attacked their positions close to the transport hub at around 10 a.m.

"They came within about two kilometers of the station," a fighter who gave his name as Volodya said.

"It is dangerous near the railway station!" the Donetsk city council said on its website, asking residents in the area to stay indoors.

It said a nine-story house had been damaged in the shelling, and that transportation had been halted in the area. The fighting set a market on fire close to the station, it said.

As minibuses brought dozens of rebels to the area in the center of the city, residents fled. The rebels said that Ukrainian forces were trying to force them out.

Donetsk is at the heart of an uprising against rule by Kiev. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to retake the city as part of what Kiev calls its "anti-terrorist operation".

Sporadic clashes have taken place around the separatist bastion as both sides have ignored calls for a cease-fire following Thursday's downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in rebel-held territory some 60 km from Donetsk. The pro-Western authorities in Kiev accuse rebel fighters of shooting down the airliner.

Ukrainian soldiers have maintained a foothold at the city's airport, close to the train station, since a fierce battle gutted the modern terminal building in May.

AFP - Reuters

(China Daily 07/22/2014 page11)