NATO bombs destroyed Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s office in his immense Tripoli residence yesterday, while rebels pushed forward against the strongman’s troops in the besieged city of Misrata.
Heavy explosions had shaken the center of Tripoli shortly after midnight as warplanes overflew the Libyan capital.
A Libyan official accompanying journalists at Qaddafi’s compound said 45 people were wounded, 15 seriously, in the bombing. He added that he did not know whether there were victims under the rubble.
PHOTO: AFP
“It was an attempt to assassinate Colonel Qaddafi,” he said.
Seif al-Islam, one of Qaddafi’s sons, described the bombing as “cowardly.”
“This cowardly attack on Muammar Qaddafi’s office may frighten or terrorize children, but we will not abandon the battle and we are not afraid,” he said, claiming that NATO’s battle was “lost in advance.”
NATO warplanes had already late on Friday targeted the Bab al-Aziziya district, where the presidential compound is located.
At about 3am smoke was still -rising from part of the building that was hit, watched by dozens of people shouting slogans praising Qaddafi.
A meeting room facing Qaddafi’s office was badly damaged by the blast.
In Misrata, 215km east of Tripoli, Libyan rebels made significant gains on Sunday in a key street in the besieged city, where residents have lived under a rain of shells and sniper fire for 50 days.
“I spent 50 days home with my family hiding from sniper fire,” Muftah Emeitiq, 45, said, adding that he was happy to be finally free thanks to the rebel advance.
Misrata was still rocked by a salvo of Grad rockets and bursts of automatic weapons on Sunday, despite a pledge by the Libyan regime to halt its fire in the port city where the humanitarian situation has stirred international concern.
However, rebel gains on Tripoli Street — one of the main arteries of the city and the stronghold of troops loyal to Qaddafi until on Friday — allowed residents to venture out after days stuck at home.
Rebels had killed or captured the majority of snipers behind deadly assaults and ambushes on the street, but still encountered some resistance from regime forces.
A barrage of artillery fire continued into the night, killing at least 10 people including children, witnesses and medics said yesterday.
However, the sounds of fighting died away early morning and the streets were quiet and deserted after sunrise.
“It will take some time, I think, but then it will all go well and Misrata will be free for ever, God willing,” rebel leader Taher Bashaga said.
Two captured pro-Qaddafi soldiers said loyalist forces were losing their grip in the battle for Misrata.
“Many soldiers want to surrender, but they are afraid of being executed” by the rebels, said Lili Mohammed, a Mauritanian hired by Qaddafi’s regime to fight insurgents in Libya’s third-largest city.
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