Heaviest Nato air strikes rock Tripoli

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Powerful explosions rocked Tripoli on Tuesday as Nato launched its heaviest bombardment yet of the capital, while France and Britain piled pressure on Muammar Gaddafi by bringing attack helicopters into the Libya fray.

Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told reporters that at least three people died and 150 were wounded in the air strikes, which he said targeted a deserted military barracks but which instead hit civilians living nearby.

An AFP journalist said the raids lasting more than half an hour began at around 1.00 AM (local time) when powerful blasts were heard in the sector around Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya residence.

More than 15 strong blasts were heard in the neighbourhood, with the sound of warplanes roaring overhead.

Nato rejected the claim that the strikes had targeted a barracks and said a vehicle storage facility had been struck.

"Overnight a regime vehicle storage facility adjacent to the Bab al-Aziziyah complex in Tripoli was struck by Nato aircraft using a number of precision guided weapons," said the Nato operation's commander Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard in a statement on Tuesday.

"This facility is known to have been active during the initial regime suppression of the population in February 2011 and has remained so ever since; resupplying the regime forces that have been conducting attacks against innocent civilians."

In another boost to forces fighting to oust the Libyan strongman, France said it would provide attack helicopters for Nato's air campaign along with Britain, and the EU widened sanctions against Gaddafi's forces.

In another boost to forces fighting to oust the Libyan strongman, France said it would provide attack helicopters for Nato's air campaign along with Britain, and the EU widened sanctions against Gaddafi's forces.

The helicopters, a weapon that has yet to be used by Nato in Libya, will help the Western alliance strike regime military assets hidden in urban areas while avoiding civilian casualties, French ministers said.

French foreign minister Alain Juppe, on the sidelines of meetings of European Union foreign and defence ministers in Brussels, said Paris was deploying Tigre and Gazelle class helicopters aboard an aircraft carrier.

French defence minister Gerard Longuet said separately that London would deploy helicopters aboard its HMS Ocean aircraft carrier as soon as possible.

On Monday, Washington urged Gaddafi to leave Libya as its most senior envoy to date held talks in the rebel capital Benghazi.

"The United States remains committed to protecting Libyan civilians and believes that Gaddafi must leave power and Libya," said the US representative's office to the rebels' National Transitional Council.

Washington's call came a day after the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, opened an EU office in Benghazi and declared the 27-member bloc's "long-term support" to the rebels.