Several people were killed when NATO strikes hit a residential neighbourhood in the Libyan capital Tripoli, the government said Sunday.
State television broadcast images of a destroyed building in the neighbourhood of Arada, which the government said was hit in NATO airstrikes shortly after midnight, DPA reported.
A military spokesman said three members of one family were killed in the attack, according to the official JANA news agency.
Foreign journalists in Tripoli were taken by government officials to see the destroyed house, where they saw a body pulled out of the rubble. A large crowd of local residents were helping to clear the debris.
Reporters were later taken to a hospital where they saw the body of a child officials said was killed in the attack. However, it could not be immediately verified.
"This is another sign of the brutality of NATO," government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said. "Is this really searching for peace and democracy in Libya?"
Libya has accused NATO before of hitting civilian targets, with the Health Ministry saying over 800 civilians have been killed since NATO raids began in March. Last month, the government said NATO hit a rehabilitation centre for deaf people and a human rights centre for women and children.
The Western military alliance has recently intensified its attacks which aim to protect civilians and increase pressure on leader Moamer Gaddafi, who remain in control of Tripoli.
The anti-Gaddafi protests began in mid-February and soon turned into an armed conflict after a lethal government crackdown on demonstrators. dpa nes hl Author: Nehal El-Sherif