NATO intensified airstrikes against Tripoli on Thursday, hitting a compound where strongman Muammar Gaddafi resides, and killing six people there, a day after the Libyan ruler appeared on state television.
NATO intensified airstrikes against Tripoli on Thursday, hitting a compound where strongman Muammar Gaddafi resides, and killing six people there, a day after the Libyan ruler appeared on state television.
Six people were killed in the raid, and ten others were injured, government official told AFP news agency.
"There were three dead here and three dead in another place" in addition to 10 wounded, said the official in the ground in a street of the Bab al-Azaziyah compound.
Both the official and another regime minder accompanying foreign media on a tour of the site said all the casualties were civilians.
Earlier on Thursday, four explosions rocked the capital In Tripoli in quick succession as NATO jets were heard flying overhead.
The blasts, which came from the direction of the Bab al-Aziziya area where Gaddafi's compound is located, shook the windows of a hotel where journalists are staying in the capital.
Two plumes of white smoke could be seen rising above the city following the blasts, as emergency vehicle sirens wailed and sporadic gunfire rang out.
The strikes came just a few hours after Libyan state TV late Wednesday showed footage it said was of Gaddafi meeting with tribal leaders, the first new video of him aired since an April 30 air strike that the regime termed an attempt on his life.
The regime said that strike killed his son Seif al-Arab and three of his grandchildren, in "a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country."
State TV said the footage was of a meeting between Gaddafii and tribal dignitaries from the east of Libya, an area held by rebels seeking his ouster.
A Libyan official told AFP the video was shot around 7:30 pm (17:30 GMT) Wednesday.
OPPOSITION FIGHTERS CAPTURE MISRATA
Also on Wednesday, opposition fihters in Misrata celebrated the capture of the city airport after a fierce battle with Gaddafi’s forces, their first significant advance in weeks. Misrata had been under siege by loyalist forces for almost two months.
A spokesman for the National Transitional Council (NTC) in Benghazi, Abdel Busin, confirmed that fighters had captured Misrata airport and pushed back Gaddafi forces around 15 kilometers.
Salah Badi, who commanded the assault on the airport, said gaddafi officers had retreated and forced soldiers to stay. Some tried to carry on the fight, but most tried to leave in civilian clothes.
He said fighter’s positions were now only 10 kilometers away from Zliten to the west and that, after resting, they will attempt to continue their advance.
On the other hand, human rights groups have warned of a looming humanitarian catastrophe in the city of 500,000 people, which faces acute shortages of food and medical supplies.
