Explosions rock Tripoli

TRIPOLI, Libya, June 7 (UPI) -- Several loud bomb blasts reverberated through Tripoli Tuesday, some possibly coming from near Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's compound, witnesses said.

Witnesses said at least 10 blasts were heard as NATO's air campaign continued, but there was no word on where the bombs struck, CNN reported.

Libyan state television had displayed images of destroyed buildings, and damaged broadcast studios and satellite vehicles, saying the damage was the result of a different NATO airstrike, something NATO disputed.

"We did not target or hit the Libyan broadcast facilities. What we did target was the military intelligence headquarters in downtown Tripoli," the alliance said. "The story coming from Libyan officials that we targeted and hit the state broadcaster's building is bogus."

Since the NATO bombings began in March, Libyan officials have charged that the airstrikes have hit civilian facilities and killed hundreds of civilians.

This week, the Libyan government said it had evidence the airstrikes were harming civilians, taking journalists on a tour of Tajura, east of Tripoli, to show them what appeared to be the remains of a rocket and several homes the government said were damaged by NATO airstrikes, CNN said.

Journalists were taken to a hospital, where they were shown a comatose baby, allegedly a victim of an alliance airstrike, CNN said. While journalists couldn't speak to the mother or doctors, one physician slipped one reporter a note saying the child was hurt in a car accident, not an airstrike.

Increasingly isolated internationally, Gadhafi's government granted short-term visas for foreign journalists to cover the war, typically accompanied by government "minders," the Los Angeles Times reported.

"It's not our policy to fabricate news," Khaled Kaim, deputy foreign minister, told reporters as they surveyed the rubble of a colonial-era building struck Monday. "We want to be as credible as possible."

The Libyan government accuses NATO of targeting civilian structures, not just military ones. Libyan officials say more than 700 civilians have been killed and more than 4,000 injured since the bombings began, but foreign journalists were unable to verify the numbers, the Times said.

Reached by telephone, a NATO official said the alliance hit military targets in the Tajura area, but could not confirm whether the attacks caused the damage in the residential area.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said recently alliance forces have made "significant progress" in fulfilling the U.N. Security Council mandate to protect Libyan civilians from Gadhafi.

Since Operation Unified Protector began, NATO aircraft conducted 10,020 sorties, including 3,794 airstrikes, officials said.