NATO strikes Gaddafi command centre
NATO jets strike a command centre where Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi sometimes lives, as a spokesman says it is a message to those attacking civilians that they can no longer hide behind high walls.
RAF planes were among the forces which struck the command and control centre in Tripoli, using precision weapons to bring down guard towers along the walls of the complex.
But NATO said that Colonel Gaddafi was not a target and it was not known whether he was at the Bab Al Aziziyah complex when the attack took place.
The Chief of Defence Staff’s spokesman Major General John Lorimer said the strike sent a message to Gaddafi.
“For decades, Colonel Gaddafi has hidden from the Libyan people behind these walls, spreading terror and crushing opposition,” he said.
Last night’s action sends a powerful message to the regime’s leadership…they are no longer hidden away from the Libyan people behind high walls. Major General John Lorimer
“The massive compound has not just been his home but is also a major military barracks and headquarters and lies at the heart of his network of secret police and intelligence agencies…Last night’s action sends a powerful message to the regime’s leadership and to those involved in delivering Colonel Gaddafi’s attacks on civilians that they are no longer hidden away from the Libyan people behind high walls.”
Previous attacks
He said that previous NATO attacks have hit other military facilities within the complex – which was also badly damaged by US warplanes 25 years ago in response to a bombing.
Read more: Apaches mark 'serious moment' in conflict and cost of Libya
The strike comes as the UK prepares to deploy Apache helicopters in Libya – a move some fear represents a further escalation of the conflict that could breach the terms of United Nations Security Council resolution 1973.
Under the resolution, NATO is mandated to protect civilians in Libya.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Three months into the operation I believe we are entering a new phase…It is right that we are ratcheting up the military, the economic and the political pressure on the Gaddafi regime so that we can enforce resolution 1973.”
On Friday Russia joined the rest of the G8 nations in calling for Gaddafi to step down, and offered to mediate his departure as the pressure on the Libyan leader, who is reportedly hiding in hospitals in fear of his life, increased.
Click on the image above to read more about the Libya conflict.