Just a day after the international criminal court chief prosecutor sought an arrest warrant for Muammar Gaddafi, a series of NATO airstrikes have hit two Libyan government buildings in Libya's capital Tripoli. A compound belonging to Gaddafi was one of the two targets of the attack.

NATO hopes that the strikes on the capital will deteriorate Gaddafi's main stronghold and make it easy to target the leader, though they deny the fact that they are targeting the Libyan leader himself. Many buildings in Tripoli became the targets overnight. Foreign media were escorted to the site of the air strikes - the Ministry for Popular Inspection and Oversight and the office of Tripoli's chief of police.

Moussa Ibrahim, the Libyan spokesman, said the ministry was targeted because it contained files on corruption cases against senior members of the Benghazi-based rebel leadership. If they [NATO] are really interested in protecting civilians ... then we call upon them to stop, and start talking to us, Ibrahim said.

As per Libyan TV report, Nato air strikes also hit Tajoura, a neighbourhood in Tripoli, and Zawiya, about 30 miles (50km) west of the capital. A number of people were killed and wounded by the strikes, the state TV said without giving any numbers.

NATO believes that the pro-Gaddafi forces want to take the war to sea. NATO wing commander Mike Bracken showed photographs taken at sea and informed the media about an incident in which an inflatable boat was captured with a ton of explosives. The revelation points to the next stage of war which NATO suspects would be the test of naval assets of pro-Gaddafi forces. This may cause more harm to innocent civilians and also to strike NATO vessels, Bracken said.

Another NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said the alliance will continue its military actions degrading Gaddafi's war machine until all the military goals are achieved.

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