Bab al-Aziziya, situated in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, is a military barracks and Gaddafi’s main compound.
At least six people have been killed and 10 others wounded after NATO airstrikes struck headquarters of embattled Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli.
Explosions roared across the Libyan capital early on Thursday as missiles landed in Bab al-Aziziya compound. It was not immediately known which of the compound’s buildings were targeted, AFP reported.
“There were three dead here and three dead in another place in addition to 10 others wounded,” an unnamed government official said as he was pointing to scattered sandbags next to a crater in the ground in a street of Bab al-Aziziya compound.
NATO airstrikes came hours after Libyan state TV showed a footage of Gaddafi meeting with officials in Tripoli. His appearance was the first since his son was killed nearly two weeks ago.
Gaddafi’s youngest son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, and three of his grandchildren were killed in a NATO aerial strike on April 30 in what the government labeled as a direct attempt to assassinate the Libyan ruler.
The video, which was aired late on Wednesday, showed Gaddafi in a meeting with a group of Libyan tribal leaders from the eastern part of the country in a Tripoli hotel. The footage did not specify the date of the meeting and was only a few minutes long.
“We tell the world those are the representatives of the Libyan tribes,” Gaddafi said in the meeting, as he pointed to the dignitaries and then introduced some of them. The footage also showed an old man telling Gaddafi, “You will be victorious.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Libyan revolutionary forces seized control of the airport in the western city of Misratah after heavy fighting with pro-Gaddafi forces.
Misratah has been under siege by pro-Gaddafi forces for nearly two months with regime forces repeatedly bombing and shelling the city.
Misratah has a population of more than half a million, many of whom are still grappling with shortages of food, water and medical supplies.
The US and NATO have unleashed a punishing UN-mandated offensive against Gaddafi to force him to cede power, but the Libyan ruler has shown scant signs of a willingness to abandon his 41-year-old reign.
