Tripoli (ANTARA News/AFP) - A number of civilians were killed in NATO air strikes on Thursday on the Libyan town of Gharyan, 90 kilometres (55 miles) southwest of Tripoli, the state news agency Jana said.

"Gharyan was the target of bombardment by the colonialist Crusader aggressor on Thursday," it said, quoting a military source. "A number of civilians were killed and others wounded."

The air raid destroyed homes and terrified women and children, Jana said, without elaborating on the number of casualties.

There was no independent confirmation of the report.

On Wednesday, Jana said seven civilians were killed and 18 wounded by NATO air raids around Khallat al-Farjan, a southwestern suburb of the Libyan capital.

NATO, however, said it had "no indication" its strikes had killed civilians near Tripoli on Wednesday.

"There was a NATO air strike in the vicinity of Khallat al-Farjan. The target was a command-and-control bunker within a military compound," a NATO official told AFP on condition of anonymity. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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