Gadhafi’s Youngest Son, Grandchildren Killed in NATO Attack

Government says Libyan leader escapes uninjured from hit on Tripoli house

A missile which the Libyan government said was from a coalition air strike is seen in the house of Saif Al-Arab Gaddafi in Tripoli (Photo: Louafi Larbi / Reuters)

April 30, 2011

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi survived a NATO missile strike Saturday that killed his youngest son and three grandchildren and wounded friends and relatives, Libya’s spokesman said.

Gadhafi and his wife were in the Tripoli house of son Saif al-Arab Gadhafi, 29, when it was hit by at least one missile fired by a NATO warplane, according to Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. …

A missile drops on the tightly-guarded residence of Moammar Gadhafi and military targets in the capital Tripoli on March 29, 2011. (Photo credit: Mahmud Turkia / AFP – Getty Images)

NATO said Sunday it had struck a “known command and control building in the Bab al-Azizya neighborhood” on Saturday evening. …

NATO could not confirm the death of Gadhafi’s son. …

Saif al-Arab Gadhafi, the colonel’s sixth son, had spent much of his time at a German university but had not completed his studies, Ibrahim said.

Saif al-Arab “was playing and talking with his father and mother and his nieces and nephews and other visitors when he was attacked for no crimes committed,” Ibrahim said. …

Gadhafi had seven sons and one daughter.

The Libyan leader also had an adopted daughter who was killed in a 1986 U.S. airstrike on his Bab al-Aziziya residential compound, which was separate from the area struck on Saturday. That strike came in retaliation for the bombing attack on a German disco in which two U.S. servicemen were killed. The U.S. at the time blamed Libya for the disco blast. …

Saturday’s strike marked the first time Gadhafi’s family was being targeted directly. …

Eleven dead had reached the hospital morgue by midnight, including two brothers, ages 11 and 16. Two more had arrived by 1:30 a.m., and four more at another hospital.

Full story

——

Related reports on this site

(Some) Boots on the Ground in Libya (March 30, 2011)

Barack Obama’s Libya Speech (March 28, 2011)

Is Libya Military Action Constitutional? (March 22, 2011)

Gadhafi Suffers Heavy Losses (March 20, 2011)

Libya Air War Begins (March 19, 2011)

NATO Ultimatum to Gadhafi (March 18, 2011)

Libya No-Fly Zone, Airstrikes Imminent (March 17, 2011)

Gadhafi Steers Libya to Civil War (Feb. 22, 2011)

Deadly Crackdown in Libya (Feb. 20, 2011)

——

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — April 30, 2010

Gulf Coast Oil Spill is The Big One

Fire boats battle the Deepwater Horizon blaze.
(Photo credit: United States Coast Guard)

One year ago today, I reported that hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil a day was spewing from the blown-out well at the site of BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded April 20, 2010 and sank two days later.

——

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — April 30, 2009

H1N1 Swine Flu Situation Report

Two years ago today, on April 30, 2009, I featured information about the H1N1 novel virus (swine flu) pandemic, including links to news reports and information resources.