20110421
presstv
Seven people have been killed in a NATO airstrike in the Libyan capital as the military alliance faces mounting criticism over the civilian losses in the North African nation.

"Seven citizens were martyred and there were losses in property and farmland in the Bir al-Ghanam area" in the south of Tripoli, Libya's state television al-Jamahiriya said on Wednesday.

The deaths came as the Western military alliance faces mounting criticism over the civilian losses in the North African nation.

The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, adopted March 17, allowed for NATO forces to pound positions belonging to Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi regime to save civilians from attacks by Gaddafi loyalists.

NATO air attacks have also killed civilians in the eastern opposition-held areas of the country, contradicting its main pledge of protecting people.

The Western military alliance urged civilians on Wednesday to “distance themselves from Gaddafi regime forces and equipment whenever possible to allow NATO to strike those forces and equipment with greater success and with the minimum risk to civilians.”

France and Britain last week failed to persuade other NATO member states to step up air attacks in Libya. However, French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed on Wednesday to carry out more attacks to pressure Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi to step down.

France and Britain have dispatched some military advisors to the opposition-held city of Benghazi in eastern Libya in a move that they claim is aimed at helping revolutionaries' military organization, communications and logistics but ruled out the possibility of deploying ground troops to the country.