malayalam news: New Libya raid 'kills civilians'

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

New Libya raid 'kills civilians'

Smoke from air strike on Tripoli (17 June 2011)

Nato air strikes have been hitting Tripoli for three months

Libyan officials say 15 civilians - including three children - were killed in a Nato attack on a building west of the capital, Tripoli.

A BBC correspondent taken by the Libyan government to see a compound in the suburb of Sorman says the building has been pulverised.

Nato said it conducted operations around Sorman earlier on Monday.

On Sunday, Nato said a weapons failure may have led to civilian casualties in an earlier air strike on Tripoli.

BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen was taken to see the remains of the country estate of Khweildy al-Hamidy, a member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Centre, the inner circle of government.

Libyan officials told him that eight rockets slammed into the place at about 0400 or 0500 on Monday morning (0200 or 0300 GMT).

There are shell holes and craters in the houses in the compound, our correspondent says, after what was a very comprehensive attack.

Confirming Nato operations in the Sorman area, a spokesman said: "We know what targets we hit."

However, the alliance is so far making no comment on reports of a residential compound being hit in the area.

Mr Hamidy has been part of Col Muammar Gaddafi's inner circle since the 1969 coup that brought the Libyan leader to power. Officials say Mr Hamidy himself escaped the air strike unharmed.

At the scene

The Libyans say that in the attack, 15 people were killed, among them the two grandchildren of Khweildy al-Hamidy - a six-year-old and a boy who was either three or four - as well their mother who, we're being told, was pregnant. Not long after I arrived here, they brought out the remains of the boy.

This is Nato striking at the very heart of the Libyan establishment, sending a clear signal after what happened in Tripoli [on Sunday] when civilians were killed. It is sending a clear signal that their campaign continues.

But I think there will be questions asked once more by critics of Nato, about whether the alliance is acting within the terms of its mandate. Its mandate, of course, is to protect civilians. Here once again, though, civilians have been killed.

On Sunday, Nato admitted "a weapons systems failure" may have led to civilian casualties in an air strike that morning on Tripoli.

The alliance said the intended target was a missile site, but "it appears that one weapon" did not hit it.

The Libyan government earlier said Nato had bombed a residential area, killing nine civilians, including two babies.

Meanwhile, rebel leaders said their administration had run out of money as donors' pledges had not materialised.

They told a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi that they were still waiting for funds that should have been deposited by last week.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg have agreed to tighten sanctions on Col Gaddafi's government. The assets of six port authorities will be frozen, the EU said in a statement. Humanitarian shipments will be exempt.

"The EU acknowledges the urgent financial needs of the TNC in order to serve the Libyan people," the statement said.

And the EU said that the "mobilisation of international resources, including, where possible, through the use of Libyan frozen funds... is key to support an inclusive transition process."

Nato's mission - to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians using "all necessary measures" short of a ground invasion - began in March in response to Col Muammar Gaddafi's violent response to a popular uprising.

The intervention was mandated by the UN, and led by France, Britain and the US until the end of March, when Nato took over.

Having initially been given 90 days - which would have run out on 27 June - the mission has been extended for a further 90 days.

This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.