Libya News Bulletin: NATO Bombs Tripoli, Aziziyah, Sirte

Demonstration in support of the military effort to defeat a counter-revolutionary rebellion in the North African state of Libya. The Gaddafi government is under attack by the imperialist states, including the U.S., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

NATO strikes Tripoli, Aziziyah, Sirte

Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:40AM
presstv.ir

NATO warplanes have launched airstrikes on the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the city of Aziziyah in the north and Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte in the east.

In Brussels, NATO said alliance warplanes have attacked command-and-control facilities of the forces of Gaddafi, including a brigade headquarters south of Tripoli, on Monday night, Reuters reported Tuesday.

"The city of Tripoli and Sirt were subject to bombardment by the crusader colonial aggression during the early hours of Tuesday," Libya's Al Jamahiriya channel reported.

NATO warplanes also pounded positions in al-Hira area southwest of the capital Tripoli on Sunday.

The Western coalition unleashed a major air campaign against regime forces on March 19 under a UN mandate to protect the Libyan population.

Dozens of civilians have been killed in Libya since US-led forces launched aerial attacks on the North African country.

NATO has recently admitted to killing rebel fighters and civilians in an airstrike in eastern Libya but has refused to apologize for the deadly bombing.

The opposition forces have frequently criticized NATO for its failure to prevent the killing of civilians by Gaddafi troops.

Rebels have threatened to ask the United Nations Security Council to suspend the NATO mission in Libya if the military alliance fails to do "its work properly."

Meanwhile, the UN says it has opened up a new humanitarian corridor in western Libya to send food to stranded civilians.

The war in Libya has so far killed around 10,000 people and injured over 50,000 others, reports say.

The new death toll was announced by Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Tuesday after he held talks in Rome with Libyan rebel leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil.

Jalil was among the first high-profile Libyan figures to join the rebels following the Gaddafi regime's brutal crackdown on the opposition.