Civilian casualties reported in eastern Tripoli airstrike
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Xinhua, March 24, 2011
A number of civilians have been reportedly wounded in the airstrikes in eastern Tripoli launched by Western warplanes on Wednesday night, Xinhua correspondents and local media said.
Witnesses said a number of targets in the Tajoura area in the eastern suburb were attacked by three rounds of bombing.
Huge explosions were heard near the Libyan capital on Wednesday night.
Among the explosions, a huge blast was heard occurred at a military base some 30 km east of the capital, witnessed said.
A Xinhua correspondent on the spot said a military engineering institute was hit during the airstrike and caught on fire.
Several cars parking nearby or passing by were hit by the bombing and passengers inside were injured, local residents told Xinhua, adding the injured had been rushed to hospital for treatment.
The number and conditions of the injured remained unknown at the moment.
Meanwhile according to Libyan media on Wednesday, "a large number" of civilians have been killed in the east of the capital by the Western forces' airstrikes, which can not be confirmed at present.
Earlier, the eastern suburb of Tripoli was bombed by Western warplanes and intensive anti-aircraft fire were heard in the Libyan capital, a Xinhua reporter in central Tripoli said.
Fighter jets were heard flying over the night sky and then anti-aircraft troops of the Libyan government opened fire into the sky, the anti-aircraft fire lasted some five minutes, said the Xinhua reporter in Tripoli.
According to earlier reports, with no Libyan planes taking to the sky in the past 24 hours, the United States and coalition military have been targeting Libyan ground forces in their air campaign over the Northern African country.
