A top envoy from the U.S. State Department announced Tuesday that Libya’s rebel government would open an office in Washington, the latest indication that the United States views the rebels as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
Hours earlier, the Libyan capital of Tripoli shook with at least 15 massive explosions, as NATO launched its largest airstrike to date on the heart of Moammar Gaddafi’s regime. The overnight bombings appeared concentrated on Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli. NATO said in a statement that it had struck a vehicle storage facility adjacent to the compound.
“This facility is known to have been active ... resupplying the regime forces that have been conducting attacks against innocent civilians,” NATO said.
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said NATO had targeted the headquarters of the military reserves, killing at least three people and injuring dozens. He said the casualties would have been higher except that the government had emptied the headquarters, expecting that it would be hit. Still, he said, “we’ve never had such an injured number of people.”
Gaddafi was still alive, Ibrahim said.
Flashes lighted up the Tripoli sky near the compound, followed by explosions and shock waves that shook windows at a hotel a mile away. Antiaircraft gunfire punctuated the quiet between the strikes, and an acrid smell filled the air.
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