Updated on
Summary Embattled Libyan leader Kadhafi blamed a colonial plot for the conflict engulfing his country.
In Tripoli there were two command and control nodes, two surface-to-air missile launchers and one anti-aircraft gun (hit), a NATO official said from the missions headquarters in Naples, Italy.Two blasts occurred in the area housing Kadhafis residence in the heart of the capital, followed by others in the eastern and southeastern suburbs.A column of smoke was seen over Kadhafis residential complex, which had been targeted by NATO warplanes on Saturday, when the transatlantic military alliance confirmed seven strikes and said they hit a military command node.Kadhafi said in an audio message broadcast on state television late Saturday that the unrest that has swept Libya since a popular uprising erupted in mid-February was a colonial plot. He did not elaborate.He also denied accusations by international rights groups of a brutal suppression of dissent and allegations that his regime had killed thousands of protesters.They lie to you and say, Libya kills its people with bullets, that is why we have come to protect civilians, Kadhafi said of the NATO air campaign mandated by the United Nations with the aim of protecting civilians in Libya.Only eight people have been killed and an inquiry is under way to determine who killed them. There are no protests and no gunfire. Show us where the thousands of people (reportedly killed) are buried, Kadhafi said.Other targets attacked by NATO-led warplanes on Saturday included a military storage facility, a multiple rocket-launcher and a command and control node in the vicinity of the oil town of Brega in the east, the alliance said.The latest NATO strikes came after rebel forces said they had infiltrated the capital and attacked a regime command post where a son of the strongman was among officials targeted.
