NATO says it hit Libyan TV transmitters

BRUSSELS: NATO announced Saturday it had carried out precision strikes on three Libyan television transmitters to silence "terror broadcasts" by Moamer Qadhafi's regime.

"A few hours ago, NATO conducted a precision air strike that disabled three ground-based Libyan state TV satellite transmission dishes in Tripoli... with the intent of degrading Qadhafi's use of satellite television as a means to intimidate the Libyan people and incite acts of violence against them," a statement said.

The strike was "performed by NATO fighter aircraft using state-of-the-art precision guided munitions."

A dozen explosions shook the Libyan capital Tripoli overnight, an AFP journalist said early Saturday -- the latest of many blasts in a city which has been targeted almost daily by NATO air raids.

Shortly after 10:00 pm (2000 GMT) Friday, at least 10 powerful blasts, some distance away, were heard in the city centre.

Early Saturday, three explosions rocked the district where Qadhafi's residence is located in the centre of Tripoli, shaking the hotel nearby where international correspondents are based.

Libyan television said the capital was "currently the target of raids by the crusader colonialist aggressor," its catchphrase for NATO.

An announcer on Al-Jamahiriya television said later the Libyan TV headquarters had been hit by a raid. He gave no further details.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011