Nato has acknowledged that one of its weapons was responsible for a number of civilian deaths in Tripoli. Two deaths have been confirmed following an air strike in the east of the capital, Tripoli, in the early hours of Sunday.Libyan authorities say nine civilians were killed, including a family of five.The military alliance said the errant strike may have been due to “a weapons system failure”.”Nato regrets the loss of innocent civilian lives and takes great care in conducting strikes against a regime determined to use violence against its own citizens,” it said in a statement.”Although we are still determining the specifics of this event, indications are that a weapons system failure may have caused this incident.”Sky’s Sam Kiley, reporting from Tripoli, said the incident was a huge blow to the alliance, whose mandate for military action is to protect civilians by enforcing a UN Resolution against Col Gaddafi.Reporters were earlier taken by Libyan government officials to the residential area in the Arada neighbourhood of Tripoli and saw a body pulled out of the rubble of a destroyed building.Following the blast, deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaim told reporters at the site: “There was intentional and deliberate targeting of the civilian houses.”This is another sign of the brutality of the West.”There were heaps of rubble and chunks of shattered concrete at the scene of the alleged raid, which a large crowd of what appeared to be local residents were helping to clear.At a local hospital, reporters were shown three bodies, including a child, which government officials said were people killed in the air strike.One of the bodies was covered with debris and dust and reporters were also shown a wounded child.Nato said it had been targeting a military missile site in Tripoli.
The incident occurred just over 24 hours after the Libyan government accused Nato of specifically targeting civilians in its campaign to aid rebels in their war against the regime of Col Gaddafi.The dictator has recently reiterated his determination not to be pushed from power.On Sunday there were reports of rockets hitting a residential area in the rebel-held city of Misratah.Rebels in the port city claim to have taken heavy casualties after coming under heavy artillery fire from pro-Gaddafi forces on Sunday.Four rebels were killed and 18 wounded, according to a doctor at a field hospital near the front line in Dafniyah, an area just west of Misratah.After four months of civil war, the rebels control much of the east of Libya, the area around Misratah and much of the western mountain region stretching to the border with Tunisia. – Skynews
