Epress.am News from Armenia
Libya Tuesday accused NATO of killing 718 civilians and wounding 4,067 in 10 weeks of air strikes, as African efforts for a truce stalled and Italy said Moamer Gaddafi’s regime is “finished,” AFP reports.
The toll of dead and injured was given at a news conference in Tripoli by government spokesperson Mussa Ibrahim, who also warned the departure of Gaddafi would be a “worst case scenario” for Libya.
“Since March 19, and up to May 26, there have been 718 martyrs among civilians and 4,067 wounded — 433 of them seriously,” Ibrahim said, citing health ministry figures which cannot be independently verified.
He said these figures do not include Libyan military casualties, a toll the defence ministry refuses to divulge.
Soon after he spoke, four powerful explosions rocked the centre of Tripoli, the target of more and more intensive air raids by NATO warplanes for more than a week, an AFP journalist reported.
The first two blasts rumbled across the city at around 9:45 pm (1945 GMT) as aircraft were heard in the night skies overhead, followed by another two 10 minutes later.
It was not possible to determine the targets, the reporter said.
UN under secretary general B. Lynn Pascoe told the UN Security Council meanwhile that at least 1,200 people have been killed or are missing after trying to flee Libya by boat since the start of the uprising against Gaddafi mid-February.