Gunners pound rebels, embassies sacked after Gadhafi’s son said killed

Libyan rebels on patrol near the airport at al-Ghiran close to the key port city of Misrata on April 30, 2011.

Benghazi, Libya (CNN) — Government forces pounded rebel-held cities and crowds ransacked empty embassies in Tripoli on Sunday after Libyan authorities reported a NATO airstrike killed one of longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi’s sons and three of his grandchildren.

The U.S. Embassy was attacked by what one U.S. official called an “organized mob,” along with the British, French, Italian and Qatari embassies, British and Italian officials told CNN. Meanwhile, pro-Gadhafi forces stepped up their shelling of rebel positions in Benghazi and Misrata after Libya’s government reported the deaths.

“It’s going to be like revenge,” one eyewitness in the embattled city of Misrata said.

The eyewitness reported significant damage and some casualties in Misrata, the country’s third-largest city. The city remains in rebel hands, with no forces aligned with Gadhafi remaining in the city itself, he said.

Another witness, who agreed to be identified only as “Mohammed,” said “very heavy shelling” targeted the coastal city’s port.

“I have been here during all days of the conflict,” he told CNN. “Last night was the worst.”

The Libyan government said Sunday that Gadhafi’s son, Saif al-Arab Gadhafi, and three of the younger Gadhafi’s children died in an airstrike that destroyed their home in Tripoli. The Libyan leader and his wife were in their son’s house when it was targeted, but they are in good health, government spokesman Musa Ibrahim told journalists.

The building was in a residential area of Tripoli that houses several embassies, and Ibrahim called the bombing a “war crime.” The strike destroyed the two-bedroom, single-story house, leaving a massive crater where it used to be.

CNN could not independently confirm the reports, and NATO said in a statement Sunday that the alliance was “aware of unconfirmed media reports that some of Gadhafi’s family members may have been killed.”

“We regret all loss of life, especially the innocent civilians being harmed as a result of this ongoing conflict,” said Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, commander of NATO’s military operations. But Bouchard said all targets “are military in nature and have been clearly linked to the Gadhafi regime’s systemic attacks on the Libyan population … We do not target individuals.”

In Benghazi, a hub for rebel forces and their transitional government, the news triggered celebratory gunfire even as a rebel spokesman dismissed the reported death as “a desperate attempt to get sympathy.”

“In all honesty, we never heard of Saif al-Arab until the start of the uprising,” said Hafiz Ghoga, deputy chairman of the Transitional National Council in Benghazi.

“We don’t believe this is true … This regime constantly lies and keeps lying,” he added.

NATO began bombarding Libya on March 19, after the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution authorizing any means necessary to protect civilians demanding the end of Gadhafi’s nearly 42-year rule. The alliance said it targeted a “command-and-control building” in Tripoli on Saturday, as well as hitting seven ammunition depots around the capital.

According to a NATO military official, the airstrike that Libya says killed Gadhafi’s son involved four precision-targeted bombs, one which failed to detonate. The official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the alliance was certain the target was a command-and-control facility and said the building hit, although above ground, had reinforced portions.

The official said NATO had “no evidence” that Gadhafi’s relatives had been killed.

NATO has not said what country the attack aircraft belonged to, or what type of aircraft were being used. But Libyan officials attacked the U.S. Embassy compound in Tripoli, as well as the British, French and Italian missions, according to a senior U.S. official in Washington.

All four NATO nations are taking part in the airstrikes. Italian officials told CNN that the embassy of Qatar, a Gulf Arab state that supports the campaign and is supplying arms to the rebels, was also targeted.

The U.S. official said Turkey, the protecting power for U.S. interests in Libya, is trying to keep an eye on the American compound — but “there isn’t much they can do when you have an organized mob, as this appeared to be.”

In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague expelled Libya’s ambassador to the United Kingdom after the attacks. Hague said the Tripoli government has breaching its international obligation to protect diplomatic missions by allowing the vandalism.

“The attacks against diplomatic missions will not weaken our resolve to protect the civilian population in Libya,” Hague said.

In addition, eight U.N. international staffers are leaving Libya, the world body announced Sunday. Spokeswoman Eri Kaneko said the United Nations would not identify the staffers or their agencies for safety reasons.

CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen, Richard Roth, Barbara Starr, Elise Labott, Richard Allen Greene and Holly Yan contributed to this report.