Nato strike hits Gaddafi compound

Almaty. April 25. Kazakhstan Today - NATO forces damaged a building inside Muammar Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah compound early Monday, Kazakhstan Today reports.

Authorities said between two and four large missiles or bombs exploded in the compound early today, The Australian reported.

A Libyan official accompanying journalists at the scene said 45 people were wounded, 15 seriously, in the bombing. He added that he did not know whether there were victims under the rubble.

A Nato air strike on the Libyan capital Tripoli has badly damaged buildings in Col Muammar Gaddafi's compound, officials and witnesses say, BBC News said.

Reports said at least two powerful missiles struck the Libyan leader's Bab al-Azizia compound early on Monday.

Three TV stations briefly went off the air following the explosions.

The blast were among the biggest to hit Tripoli so far, reporters in the city said. Nato is targeting Col Gaddafi's forces as he tries to quell a revolt.

The BBC's Ian Pannell in Tripoli said the damaged buildings appeared to be the same ones that Col Gaddafi used to host a recent visit by an African Union peace mission.

Reports said Libyan Television and the Jamahiriya and Shababiya TV stations were off air for about half-an-hour following the blasts.

On Sunday, forces loyal to the Libyan leader bombarded areas of the western city of Misrata, despite the regime saying it had halted attacks to allow local tribes to negotiate with rebels.

Shortly after midnight there were at least two huge explosions in the capital.

The target appears to have been office buildings that make up part of Col Gaddafi's compound. The devastation is significant with walls blown out, roofs caved in and debris spread over a wide area.

Smoke rose from the shattered building as firemen sprayed foam on to the rubble. Some officials at the scene said there had been some injuries, others contradicted that.

Nato says it has been actively targeting command and control positions, but it is impossible to know whether this site did have a military purpose. There certainly didn't seem to be any obvious evidence of it.

For supporters of the regime rallying in front of the wreckage this was a personal attack against Col Gaddafi himself and they vowed to stay at the site despite Nato warnings to leave.

At least six people were reported killed in the latest bombardment, which reportedly hit the city centre and three residential districts.

A captured pro-Gaddafi soldier told AFP news agency that loyalist forces were losing the battle for Misrata.

"Many soldiers want to surrender but they are afraid of being executed [by rebels]," said Lili Mohammed, a Mauritanian hired to fight the insurgents.

On Sunday, Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said the army was pausing to allow local tribes to settle the battle "peacefully and not militarily".

But Col Omar Bani, military spokesman for the rebels' Transitional National Council (TNC), said Col Gaddafi was "playing a really dirty game" in an attempt to divide his opponents.

"It is a trick, they didn't go," he Bani said in the eastern city of Benghazi. "They have stayed a bit out of Tripoli Street but they are preparing themselves to attack again."

British Journalist James Hider, who is in Misrata for The Times newspaper, told the BBC that although pro-Gaddafi forces encircled Misrata, their forces inside the city were themselves surrounded by rebel fighters.

Supporters of Col Gaddafi chanted defiance from the ruins of a building hit by the air strike

He said their supplies were cut off and Nato air strikes were starving the main force outside the city of supplies from elsewhere.

Mr Hider said rebels hoped they would be able to regain control of the city centre soon but didn't think they would be able to defeat all the government forces until Nato strikes destroyed their biggest weaponry.

Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been killed in Misrata and many more wounded. Ships have been ferrying the wounded to hospitals in Benghazi.

The revolt against Col Gaddafi began in February, inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world.

Rebel leaders received a financial boost on Sunday when Kuwait announced it was giving 50m dinars (110m pounds, $180m) to the Transitional National Council.

Nato is carrying out air strikes against Libyan state forces under a UN mandate to protect civilians.

Photo: The Australian

This information may not be reproduced without reference to Kazakhstan Today. Copyright of materials of News Agency Kazakhstan Today.