NATO attack killed Gaddafi's son, Libyan rebels claim

PanARMENIAN.Net - Libya's rebels said on Friday, August 5, a NATO air attack killed Muammar Gaddafi's powerful son Khamis, who serves as commander of one of the Libyan leader's most loyal and best-equipped military units.

A rebel spokesman said the air strike had killed 32 people in Zlitan, a frontline town where Khamis Gaddafi's 32nd Brigade is believed to have been leading the stand to defend the outskirts of Tripoli, 160 km (100 miles) away.

NATO was not able to confirm the report of Khamis Gaddafi's death, and the Tripoli government was not immediately available to comment. NATO had said Thursday that it hit a command-and-control target in the area.

If confirmed, the death of Khamis would be a severe blow to his father's campaign to resist a six-month-old uprising and remain in power.

The brigade led by Khamis is seen as one of the most disciplined units in Libya and a central part of the government's security apparatus.

A NATO official at operations headquarters in Naples said he was aware of reports Khamis had been killed but could not confirm it. "We cannot confirm anything right now, because we don't have people on the ground, but we are trying to find out what we can," he said, Reuters reported.

Khamis would be the second of Gaddafi's sons reported killed since the uprising against his 41-year rule began in February.