"NATO continued its precision strikes against Qadhafi regime military installations in Tripoli overnight, including striking a known command and control building in the Bab al-Azizya neighbourhood shortly after 1800 GMT Saturday evening," a statement said.

"All NATO's targets are military in nature and have been clearly linked to the... regime's systematic attacks on the Libyan population and populated areas. We do not target individuals," said Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, commander of NATO's Operation Unified Protector.

"I am aware of unconfirmed media reports that some of Qadhafi's family members may have been killed," Bouchard said.

"We regret all loss of life, especially the innocent civilians being harmed as a result of the ongoing conflict."

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters that 29-year-old Seif al-Arab Kadhafi, the Libyan leader's youngest son, and three of his grandchildren died in an air strike on a building.

Ibrahim called it "a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country," adding that the strongman and his wife were in the building when the strike hit, but were not harmed.

No independent confirmation of the incident was immediately available.

NATO said the raids would continue.

"I want to remind again all civilians in Libya to distance themselves as much as possible from Qadhafi regime forces, equipment and known military infrastructure to reduce the potential danger to them," Bouchard said.

The raids will go on until "all attacks and threats against civilians have ceased; until all of Qadhafi's forces, including his snipers, mercenaries and paramilitary forces have verifiably withdrawn to their bases, and until there is full, free and unhindered access to humanitarian aid to all those in Libya who need it," the statement added.

earlier related report
Kadhafi son killed after talks offer rejected
Tripoli (AFP) May 1, 2011 - A NATO air strike killed Moamer Kadhafi's youngest son and three grandchildren but the strongman escaped unhurt, a Libyan spokesman said Sunday, after rebels and NATO spurned an offer for talks to end the crisis.

The house of Seif al-Arab Kadhafi, 29, "was attacked tonight with full power," government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told a news conference, announcing the deaths in the Saturday evening strikes.

The Libyan leader and his wife were in the building but were not harmed, Ibrahim said, calling the strike "a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country."

"The leader himself is in good health; he wasn't harmed. His wife is also in good health; she wasn't harmed, (but) other people were injured," he added.

Ibrahim later said intelligence on Kadhafi's whereabouts appeared to have been "leaked," adding: "They knew about him being there, or expected him for some reason."

Kadhafi had lost an adopted daughter in a US air raid in 1986.

NATO said it had staged airstrikes in Tripoli but did not confirm the Libyan claims. There was no immediate confirmation of the deaths either. At least three missiles had been heard exploding earlier as jets flew overhead.

A statement from the transatlantic military alliance said it continued its precision strikes against Kadhafi regime military installations in Tripoli overnight, "including striking a known command and control building in the Bab al-Azizya neighbourhood shortly after 1800 GMT Saturday evening."

Automatic gunfire, apparently in mourning, echoed across the capital following the announcement, while state TV showed flag-waving demonstrators whom it said turned out to mourn Seif al-Arab's death.

Overjoyed rebels fired rockets, Kalashnikovs, anti-aircraft machine guns and detonated TNT for more than a half an hour, rocking the rebel capital of Benghazi with sustained gunfire and explosions.

"They are so happy that Kadhafi lost his son in an air strike that they are shooting in celebration," said Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani, military spokesman of the Libyan opposition Transitional National Council (TNC) headquartered in the eastern city.

Cars drove along the seafront beeping their horns as people shouted "God is greatest" below a night sky lit up by red tracer fire.

Ibrahim had earlier taken journalists to the remnants of a heavily damaged house in Tripoli, hinting but not explicitly indicating this was the one in which Kadhafi's son had died.

Long, twisted rods of reinforcing steel bars stuck out of large chunks of blasted concrete lay in and around the structure. In some areas, the roof had caved in completely and walls had collapsed. A thick layer of dark grey dust covered the grounds.

Given the level of destruction, it was improbable that anyone present could have survived.

NATO vowed to stage more strikes, though the commander of NATO's Operation Unified Protector stressed that "we do not target individuals."

"All NATO's targets are military in nature and have been clearly linked to the... regime's systematic attacks on the Libyan population and populated areas," said Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard.

The statement said the raids would go on until all attacks and threats against civilians had ceased and until all of Kadhafi's forces, "including his snipers, mercenaries and paramilitary forces have verifiably withdrawn to their bases, and until there is full, free and unhindered access to humanitarian aid to all those in Libya who need it," the statement added.

In a speech on state television Saturday, Kadhafi had said NATO "must abandon all hope of his departure."

"I have no official functions to give up: I will not leave my country and will fight to the death," he said.

But he added a conciliatory note: "We are ready to talk with France and the United States, but with no preconditions.

"We will not surrender, but I call on you to negotiate. If you want petrol, we will sign contracts with your companies -- it is not worth going to war over.

"Between Libyans, we can solve our problems without being attacked, so pull back your fleets and your planes," he told NATO.

His call was dismissed by the TNC, which has shaped itself into a parallel government in Benghazi, and by NATO.

"The time for compromise has passed," said TNC vice chairman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga. "The people of Libya cannot possibly envisage or accept a future Libya in which Kadhafi's regime plays any role."

In Brussels, a NATO official also rejected talks, saying: "We need to see not words but actions."

The regime threatened to attack any ships trying to enter the rebel-held port of Misrata, after tanks launched an assault on the city east of Tripoli.

Misrata's port is a crucial conduit for humanitarian aid to the city of half a million, which Kadhafi's forces have been trying to capture for more than seven weeks.

The fighting in Misrata has intensified 10 weeks after government forces launched a deadly crackdown on protests inspired by regime-changing movements in Tunisia and Egypt.

An AFP correspondent there said 10 people had been killed and 20 wounded by mid-afternoon, with witnesses saying as many as five tanks were seeking to advance on the city from the airport.

Loyalist forces were pushed back from Misrata by the rebels and NATO air strikes on Monday, with the rebels saying they had secured the port and their next objective was the airport.

But state television said the military had "put the port out of service," and that delivery of humanitarian aid to Misrata should now be carried out "overland and under the supervision of the armed forces."

In Benghazi, rebels said loyalists had stormed the eastern oasis town of Jalo, several hundred kilometres south, and killed five people.

"It seems Kadhafi is trying to open another front in the south," said a rebel source, while TNC spokesman Jalal al-Gallal worried that the attack was "not a great sign."

Meanwhile, rebels were expecting a new Kadhafi offensive for control of the Dehiba border crossing into Tunisia, witnesses said on Saturday, a day after they retook it from loyalists in fierce fighting.

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