Tripoli, May 02: Three explosions have been heard as NATO warplanes flew over the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after earlier attacks that reportedly killed one of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons.
The attacks reportedly took place on Sunday night in the eastern part of Tripoli but no further details were known, AFP reported.
NATO fighter jets have carried out air attacks on Libya for several weeks according to a UN mandate to protect civilians against Gaddafi forces. However, their jets attacked Gaddafi’s headquarters of Bab al-Aziziya on Saturday, killing the ruler’s son Saif al-Arab and three of his grandchildren.
Gaddafi forces and outraged crowds attacked British and Italian embassies on Sunday in retaliation for the killing of Gaddafi’s family members, torching the missions’ building and destroying the UK embassy completely, reports said.
The Libyan government has said NATO’s attack was “a direct operation to assassinate the leader of the country,” but the military alliance says they targeted a command and control building and their target was “military in nature.”
Following the UK embassy attack, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Libyan ambassador Omar Jelban had been given 24 hours to leave England, adding that Libya has once again violated its international responsibilities for protecting diplomatic missions.
On Saturday, Gaddafi said he was ready to talk with NATO member states operating in Libya to stop the fighting but his offer of ceasefire was rejected by NATO.
——–Agencies